We live in a time where fun, excitement, and entertainment seem to guide almost every part of life. We want things fast, easy, and enjoyable. And if something doesn’t feel good right away, we often quit.
But what if chasing fun is slowly hurting us? What if it’s keeping us from doing the hard things that truly matter—for our health, our children, and our future?
This past week, I came across two articles that seemed unrelated at first. But when I looked closer, they told the same story—just from different angles.
🟩 Drug deaths dropped 40% last year for people under age 35. (Source: NPR)
The NPR article gave us hopeful news: fewer young people are dying from fentanyl and other street drugs. In fact, deaths dropped 47% for people ages 20–29.
This didn’t happen by accident. Groups like street teams, the use of naloxone (an overdose-reversal drug), and public health campaigns helped turn the tide. These efforts are saving lives and helping people recover. But it’s important to notice when this help steps in: it comes after the addiction has already taken hold.
This tells us something deeper: before we can build better habits, we often have to treat what’s already broken. In the case of fentanyl, that’s the addiction itself. The chase for a high. The escape from boredom or pain.
🟩 Only 41% of kids ages 0–4 are read to regularly—down from 64% in 2012. (Source: The Guardian)
Now compare this with what’s happening in homes across the country. The Guardian article shows that fewer young parents—especially Gen Z—are reading to their children. Why? Many say it’s boring. Less than half even find reading with their kids “fun.”
But early reading is critical. Studies show the number of words a child hears by age five has a huge effect on their ability to read later—and success in school and life often depends on that.
Again, we see a pattern: the same over-reliance on fun and stimulation that leads some people toward drugs may also be affecting parenting. Instead of sticking with small habits that help children grow, too many of us are being pulled away by screens, social media, and entertainment.
We can’t build healthy habits until we treat our addiction to fun.
Just like you can’t fight fentanyl deaths without first tackling the addiction, we can’t expect better habits in our homes—like reading to our kids—without first facing how much we depend on constant stimulation.
Parents today aren’t lazy. They aren’t careless. But they are often exhausted and overwhelmed, and we’ve been trained—by algorithms, advertising, and culture—to seek out whatever feels good right now.
The result? The idea of slowing down to read the same bedtime story again feels not just boring—but unbearable.
Fun isn’t the problem. It’s the role we give it.
Fun is good. It’s a gift. But when fun becomes the measure for every decision—when we believe something must be exciting to be worth our time—we end up lost. Fun stops being joy and starts becoming a drug. And like any drug, it starts to control us.
So what do we do?
🟦 First, we treat the addiction.
Just like public health teams are fighting fentanyl with street outreach, education, and overdose reversal, we need to face our own addictions to entertainment and escape. That means setting boundaries on screen time, breaking cycles of overstimulation, and relearning how to sit still and be present.
🟦 Then, we build better habits.
Reading a story to your child. Choosing connection over content. Staying at the dinner table a little longer without checking your phone. These don’t look exciting—but they are powerful.
🟦 We need more boring people.
We need people who consistently do the small, awkward, uncomfortable, hard things that compound into big-time solutions. People who show up even when it’s not fun. People who do what’s needed, not just what’s exciting. That’s what holds families and communities together.
Hard Questions to Ask Ourselves:
- Are we addicted to fun in ways we don’t even recognize?
- Are we letting short-term excitement steal long-term impact?
- Are we willing to break harmful patterns so we can build healthier futures?
🟦 Here’s the truth: We are all part of this problem and we can all be part of the solution.
When we ignore our role, the problem grows. But when we say, “This lives in me too, and I can change,” we make room for healing—not just in ourselves, but in our families and neighborhoods.
Let’s help each other recover.
Let’s rebuild the habits that may feel boring—but change lives.
Let’s show up.
Because the future doesn’t need more fun.
It needs more faithfulness.
Sources:
🔗 Drug deaths among people in the U.S. under 35 are plummeting | NPR