My friends,
Everyone has personal histories and experiences that are unique. One thing that I learned over the years is that Intelligence, athleticism, health, etc. alone have little to do with being an alcoholic (except the ability to be a better liar). The real culprit is in the personal ego… the selfishness, self-centeredness, and the like which inevitably led me to the illusion that I had control over a part of me that I really had no control over.
As an alcoholic, my personal experience has shown me that alcohol was my social starter that led to a whole slew of other issues, drugs, etc. What I mean is that it is rare for someone to go straight to, say, cocaine, without drinking alcohol first. The likely exception to this thought is opioids, which often become issues as the result of pain management for physical injuries.
I started to drink Alcohol because it was social and fun, and it was an escape from personal emotional issues that lurked within me. Drinking was a way to avoid facing myself, to avoid looking at any underlying causes, or think of consequences. This seemingly harmless start began to increase in amounts and frequency with time over the years. Before I realized it, there came a point where judgement questions started to blur.
Sadly, drinking & driving was commonplace for me in my youth as my ego always ruled over my ability to drive wherever and whenever I needed, and I never gave serious thought to real long-term consequences. I failed to recognize my car as a potential weapon, and that driving is a privilege, not a right.
We all make thousands of decisions a day, many seem trivial or inconsequential, but sometimes one, or several bad decisions in a row, have life-changing consequences. This is the ripple effect of destructive decisions that will create a new history for you and many people that you know, and do not know.
Some examples of long-term consequences resulting from destructive decisions are:
- criminal legal (misdemeanors and/or felonies)
- civil legal (lawsuits)
- administrative law (driving suspensions and/or revocations)
- employment/career (work standing, promotions)
- personal relationships (family & friends)
- other ways…
How is your destructive decision going to affect you and your family? Friends? Other families? Colleagues? Innocent bystanders? The fact is that nobody wins with a destructive decision.
Truly,
Peter L. Kral