Swim Toward the Light!

 A very dear friend of mine is in the hospital recuperating (again) from alcohol abuse and its effects exacerbated by diabetes (which includes life-threatening pancreatitis). My emotions range from anger to deep empathy. For those of us who have not dealt with addiction it is too easy to be judgmental and self-righteous. I'm beyond that, but still deeply troubled.

 It seems to me he is swimming in an ocean just beyond just beyond the lifeguard's reach. Swim further out and he will be lost forever. On the shore, his friends are calling, "We love you. Swim toward us, toward the light." But he continues to drift away, carried by a powerful ebb tide -- and, sad to say, maybe his own desires to escape. "

Why?

No one knows the answer to this question. This is the snare and the nature of addiction's hold.

MIB has not dealt much with the question of addiction-for no particular reason. But this call is for you. If you find yourself in the grip of drug or alcohol abuse, pornography or sex addiction, womanizing or any of the other self-medicating behaviors we pursue to avoid pain, stop and listen. Listen to the loved ones calling to "Swim toward the light."

My counselor friend calls it walking toward the pain rather than away from it. It is not an inviting thought, but it is the only real way to the safety of the shore and its promise of restoration and healing.