Would you rather have your house burn down … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather flunk out of school … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather have your spouse cheat on you … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather have cancer … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather live in poverty … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather have a serious car accident … or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather lose your job…or be alcohol dependent?
Would you rather be diabetic… or be alcohol dependent?
JUST AS NO ONE CHOOSES ANY OF THESE, NO ONE CHOOSES TO BE ALCOHOL DEPENDENT.
– Peg
No, but one can choose NOT to be alcohol dependent every day, and CHOOSE to get support for the decision.
There is hidden grace in this Q; the suggested challenge to choose between conditions or circumstances beyond our OWN control — forever the circumstance of life. It is a gift for rising to the choice of control over being true to ourselves; such a false given choice — suggested in the Q — is not the question. The real opportunity is to serve our best selves in being true to good choices: it is simple to be present for either circumstance, but not so easy to stay with the true self.
We are given the freedom to be true to ourselves in the face of realities as they present themselves, AND as we may perceive them. We are here for the NOW, which is to know that we live with our choice here forward. This makes choosing simple — though not easy: would YOU rather die from your alcoholism OR seek the gift of giving your experience to another person.
The house may burn down, and YOU give your stable vision of what survives is YOU being ture to yourself. That is the gift … to You and that You give to others. It is the opening of a hand of grace.
So many people just don’t get it. My husband died from liver cirrhosis. There were multiple reasons for his cirrhosis but he also drank. He tried to quit 2 times admitting himself into a facility and following the program but it never really worked for him. I think it’s like saying don’t scratch an itch. The itch keeps getting worse and worse and finally you can’t help it but scratch it. Everyone’s mind works differently. It is not a choice to be an alcohol dependent person. If there was something like taking a high blood pressure pill to stop the itch then it might be easier for alcohol dependent people to abstain from drinking. I believe we should do more research in this area for our future children. This debilitating gene is also hereditary.