(Yep, i know i spend way too much time browsing the archives, sry bout that )
Never apologize for your addictions.
Just for the effect they have on you and those you love...
OK, so here's my point; I love math, and get to teach it. That's my profession. But I've also built furniture, repaired cars and appliances, roofed houses and barns, done electrical, plumbing and any amount of restoration work, and
every single one of those things leaves me feeling more accomplished and fulfilled than teaching does. You can
see what you've done, you can
finish a job and take pride in it. With teaching, you constantly stare failure in the face, whether it's your fault or not, and you have to hope and pray that some of what you teach sticks knowing full well that most of what you taught splattered on the back wall after sailing over your student's heads.
It's the Mr. Chips effect, and it regularly has me thinking of doing something else for a living...
Then I hear from some former student about how much they loved my class, and how much they learned from it, and I get all mushy inside.