Why In the world we live in, where all information and knowledge is available at the click of a button, do people still struggle so bad with addiction? We have had programs like AA around for decades, and if you have been around many people that have been to these classes, it doesn’t seem to be super effective.
In my opinion, the saying knowledge is power is total bull shit. One thing I have actually became an expert in over the last few years raising animals is shit, so my opinion is pretty solid. If knowledge was power there would be a lot less fat people out there. Knowing sugar is terrible for you while you stuff your face with a giant ice cream sunday is not giving you a sixpack. Power is power. That’s it. If there is something you want, you need to find the power to achieve it.
For me sitting around a coffee machine, or out front of some converted strip mall office, listening to a bunch of people tell glory stories from when they used to get fucked up is not going to help anything. Every night introducing your self as an addict is probably going to make you feel pretty hopeless. I am not an addict. I was addicted, to just about every toxic thing you can think of. But I am a free man, not a slave to addiction.
I think there are three reasons people use drugs.
- Shame. Most of us have been there. We just need a head change to not hurt. This is also what keeps a lot of people using.
- Peer pressure. Maybe as a kid the older crowd would accept you better if you were more like them? Maybe TV and music have beet it into your head for your whole life that the ‘ cool ‘ people like you all do this thing. Imagine a cowboy that doesn’t drink beer and whiskey
- A deep need for chaos and adventure. Some of us thrive on these things, we need them. Living a conventional 9-5 life really lacks this primal desire. You do the same shit all day every day, when the weekend rolls around you just need to cut loose and party to see what the good times bring.
Guilt is a powerful emotion. It can quickly take control of your life.For a lot of us, especially men, we can’t even identify when we are feeling guilt. Pissed off sounds a lot cooler and tougher. How often do you wake up feeling like shit for the dumb decisions you made the night before. The first few hours are in the “Im never drinking again” phase. Man that feeling sucks. Starts to get to you. The more you think about it, you start to realize, it wasn’t really your fault. Maybe your boss was pissing you off all week. Maybe something bad happened and you just needed a release. There is a ton of places to start to lay the blame. The more you think about it, the better a drink sounds. Probably just have one or two to take the edge off. This cycle will start over and over for as long as you want it to.
Getting sober is a process. One of the first really hard steps if facing all the shit you have done. For me, this had to just be a one and done decision. Yes, I did all those things, now it’s time to move on. A big driving factor to me early on was to show not tell. There is no real reason to just say sorry to friends and family that you screwed over. You have said it all before. This time show them, and keep showing them for the rest of your life.
Peer pressure is going to happen to all of us. Some good, a lot bad. You see this so much with young teens. This is when people are most susceptible to the b.s. let’s face it, how many people start drinking in their 30s? We are smart enough by then to be like, so I am going to spend all my money, and free time using a substance that makes me feel like shit? That’s a hard pass. You tell a 16 year old, hey buddy you want to have a beer with the boys after work? They are in. It sounds cool. These are just the subtle friendly ones. How about the music? I was searching for a song to put in a video the other day. Do you know how hard it is to find a country song without drinking in it? There is a reason big corporations pay billions to the music and tv industries. They are buying customers.
Then There is the last one. Our human need for chaos. Well I say human, but I have raised a lot of animals, and they might be worse. Its not actually chaos we need though. It is adventure, a feeling that anything could happen at any time. When you head out for the night high as fuck, there is no limits, no boundaries. Fights, sex, new friends you never know. Granted most nights end with you puking on yourself, listening to some other dip shit solve all the worlds problems. It doesn’t matter, its the thought that this time could be different. Some of us need this more than others. Realizing this about myself, and learning to manage it in a healthy way has been life changing. I am sure my wife and mother would sleep a lot better if I didn’t do some of the things I do, but they know it is what I do.