The Debate

There has been debate on whether or not this is a choice or whether or not it is a disease. I stand firmly with the idea that this is a choice and not something that happens to a person like getting the flu or a regular cold. Hear me out, I have my reasons.

First of all, I grew up around all of the drug users and alcoholics and more because of the state I was raised. After being able to talk to them and having them talk to me about their feelings and mental state I have landed on this stand.

My father basically sealed the deal for me as for thinking this was a choice and not something that someone gets and then get stuck wanting to take more and more. When I was a teenager, I was yet again being psychologically and verbally abused by my drunk and on drugs father. In between all of the ramblings of me not being worth anything and being a disappointment and treating my mother horribly because of being born, there was a moment that actually made sense. It was when he stopped talking for a second and then said "I know I have a problem" then proceeded to tell me that his choice of alcohol and drugs was a decision that he made, and it was more important than myself or my mother and he was not going to give it up.

The rest of the family was working and oblivious to how I was treated, and other members of the family had left me there and gotten on with their own lives or even worse chose to be like him in the pain killing and substance abusing. I have heard debates on addiction and choice and have been in a few myself.

Chosen too never be like them I am sober and clean and partake in no medicine that is not approved by my doctors for the treatment of certain conditions. If you were to look it up there are millions of stances on it being a choice and it being a disease. I stand strong in it being a choice because that is what I was told. I was told it was a choice and not something he is willing to give up.

It was chosen over me, my mother and all of my family. All my uncles and aunts drank and did drugs and other things I was not told of when I was a young child. I'm a strong believer in choice, that a person has a choice to make and how and what you do creates your life. If my dad were to have chosen being clean instead of the other, he would probably have been an amazing father with the personality traits he did have. He is strong and funny, did actually care for us on some level, (not really shown). He was protective as a father should be and would stand up for me if something happened to me. Drug my enemies and bullies through the mud if he caught them mistreating me. Ironically, He was the worst bully of them all.

After that I realized that all people have choices and let no one talk you out of what you want. Your life is up to you, be better, stronger, and kinder than the last person because you don't know that that grocery store worker just got insulted by the customer ahead of you and almost walked out of work that day in defeat. I've had customers call me all kinds of names and one guy even called me ugly. Now I'm not ugly, and it was the kind woman next in line that noticed I was upset and chose to help me by making me feel better. She had no idea that this moment would be something that I would never forget because she made my day!

To foster kindness in a world that is constantly changing like ours you have to make that choice. Use that God Given free will that we all have or whatever you choose to believe in and decide that you are going to be better not only for yourself but those around you. Those that count on you will notice a difference and be grateful to you for it.

I have chosen to do such things. I am a better person because I chose not to imbibe in alcohol like my father or really at all. I had the chance to get pain killers because of an injury that I had, and I also chose not to take them and to manage the pain other ways. I still than went out of my way to make sure that the others in my life were taken care of the best that I could.

Fast forward to now I am a grown adult woman (a pretty hot one) and are married with a large house and all the toys that I can play with including several and I do mean several cats that were rescued from shelters because they were to be put down over something silly. One of my babies was to be put down because she was a bit older, and she had a bad tooth. A bad tooth? that's it. We heard of her, and our hearts melted as it does for animals, and we agreed to take her and get her tooth fixed and she is still alive and kicking to this day loving being the queen of my corner couch.

Drugs are a choice, so is saving a life or being a doctor. All the decisions that you make are going to have a large impact on the world around you. The choice is really up to you, and it is all just a choice. With the small instances of kidnap victims and children born to drugged mothers it is a choice every person can make. And even children that are born under certain influences are detoxed first and then given back to the parents or other people that will care more than the drugged parents.

So here is my question to all of you who read this and think about it a bit. What choices have you made that affected others in a negative light or what kind of choices can you make now that change your life course?

What's your choice?