Smoking, Alcohol, Drugs... Suicide, In Other Words

My rant on smoking, alcohol and drugs.

A person who smokes, drinks, and/or does drugs.

My thoughts?

I had a cousin... Adrian, was it? Or was it Andre? I can't remember. Hmm.... I can't remember my cousin's name. Is that bad? Does that make me stupid? Does that make me odd? Maybe it does. But I don't quite hold a candle to my cousin. He has a a sister, Amber. A dear cousin of mine with FIVE children (congrats on your 5th boy, Amber). 3 older girls, angels. Beautiful as they come. And her 4th son, cute as a button. And now a 5th nephew/neice my cousin Adrian/Andre will never know. Why? Because he put a gun to himself and pulled the trigger. Now why would he do that to himself, Daniel? Is that a question on your mind, dear reader? To answer it, I will answer it with a question of my own.

Does it matter? Suicide, is suicide. It is a coward's way out of whatever it was that was troubling him. Instead of fighting, instead of being a stronger man, he felt it would be best to kill himself. Instead of rising above the problems he had, he resorted to ending his life, leaving behind a beautiful sister and 5 of her beautiful children. Any ONE of these reasons would be sufficient to keep living. But not to Adrian/Andre. No, he was a selfish prick who left a great family behind to reap the knowledge of his passing... to suffer alone in the worst ways possible. I don't remember my cousin, because I don't want to remember him. I have no patience for the weak and spineless. A NORMAL HUMAN BEING fights the good fight and never gives up. He rises above it, even if he fails. Because THAT is what you are remembered for, and that is what you are respected for. I don't respect cousin Adrian/Andre. There is nothing to respect.

What does this have to do with smoking, alcohol, or drugs? Everything. The only difference; it's a slower bullet.

Drugs, smoking, alcohol, it's all an escape. It's all a shroud to keep you from facing reality. Why does a person do these things to themselves, I'd ask myself? What do they get out of it? The answers I get are flat and are downright pointless. In the end, there's only one answer that makes any sense, dear reader: "Because, Daniel. I am a lowlife piece of s**t and I don't care about my life." If he/she said that to me, it'd be the first answer I wouldn't call bullshit on.

Am I wrong, dear reader? Is that not the answer? Smoking, drinking, drugs, they are a direct threat against your life. That cigarette you put in your mouth, that bottle you put to your lips, that bong you light, is all of that worth your life? I've heard the answer, no, too many times. I always have to wonder who they're trying to convince. You must think that they're worth your life, because you do it anyway. You are slowly dying and you aren't doing anything about it. It's because you don't care about your life. There's no other explanation. Addiction? They just can't help themselves? I've heard stories of people who have had these problems. They go to rehab, come back, and boy are they changed for the better. They live healthy, full-filling lives. With that said, you will never be able to say, "they can't help themselves" and expect me to believe that.

I mentioned before that smoking, drinking, and drugs were an escape. From what? This is MY question, now. What are these people escaping from? I knew this person once. She said it was because she would be bored if she didn't do it.

Bored, she said. Bored of what? She works AND goes to school. You're too busy to be bored. But that's not the case, I believe.

As a personal thing, I am a person who needs time to himself. I like to have NOTHING to do from time to time. I want a job. I want to work for a living. But at the same time, I need time to reflect on my life and see where I'm going, and where I am.

Let me repeat that: I need time to REFLECT.

Reflection, dear reader. That is that key word. I'm probably taking jabs at this girl I know, but this applies to all with smoking, drinking and drug problems. Are you sure you're bored? I don't buy it. I can pick up and plastic bottle cap and drop it to the floor in front of me and find entertainment in that. Aside from that, we have television, we have Hollywood and Broadway, we have video games and online videos ranging from skateboarding mishaps and cute kittens on Youtube to blowjobs and hardcore sex in the porn industry. Let's face it, we all find a great deal of pleasure in just ONE of these things.

So why smoke, drink or do drugs? None of these things are boring, and none of them are a direct threat to your life.

Honestly, I don't think boredom is the reason. I think it's something that happened in their past. I don't think people just get up one day and say, "hey I want to smoke marijuana." No, something pushed them into it. Perhaps, they were beaten by their mother, or raped by their father. Maybe it's both. There's a myriad of reasons why someone would get into these sort of things. The reasons I gave are understandable reasons to get into smoking, drinking and drug use.

But it doesn't make it right. Not by ANY stretch. What someone does to YOU is one thing. What you do to YOURSELF is another. Getting beaten, being raped, that wasn't something you brought upon yourself. But it is something you can rise above. Live your life and find something to live for. Smoking, drinking, drugs... that's not living, dear reader.

That's slow suicide. And suicide is nothing to be respected.

My message to you, dear reader, is this: if you are an addict on any one of these things, call your best friend or your family. Ask them to help you find a rehab center to go to. They will help you and you will come out of there with a fresh new outlook on life. Get yourself a new start in life and be someone that you want to be. Someone who's good, and someone who's respectable. Making that choice, to save your own life; there is respect in that. If you are a person who knows someone who does this, be a friend. Be a TRUE friend. Change a life. Save them from themselves.

Author's Note

*WARNING* Contains adult content and language.

Reviews

[LL2]

I really like the authentic, speaking style of this piece, and it's inspirational. The introdcution was my favorite part. Do you mind reviewing some of my stuff?