I was flipping through my cable station options this morning and saw there is a new show on Roku entitled "Immoral Compass". Geez, I wonder what that will be about? (NOT!)
Even though doing whatever we want whenever we want is SO tempting....anyone who has done these things already understands the price(s) we pay for making such choices. Of course, we may not notice that price we pay until weeks, months, or even decades after the fact...but there is always and I do mean ALWAYS a price to pay that we didn't expect to pay when "immorality" and/or the "feel good" way is our jam.
Living by the sword is a way of saying that what we are doing is "dangerous" enough to take us down and out if we don't straighten ourselves out sooner than later!
Do you think that the first time someone snorted some "H" (heroin) that they were thinking about "Oh oh! This stuff has the power to make me feel SO sick once my body gets used to it...that I will only take it at that point for the purpose of not feeling like I am about to die!" NO, people do not "think" about that price they will certainly pay in the future when dabbling with powerfully addictive narcotics. At first, heroin and their opioid counterparts make users feel like "Everything is beautiful!" and "pure love" surrounds them in all directions. I have had heroin addicts repeatedly tell me "It's like you are one with God; all you feel is love love love surrounding you everywhere!" Until that script flips on you and heroin or opioid use feels more like being one with the devil with feeling sick unto death is all that surrounds you.
When I worked in an inpatient chemical dependency unit, I did have some brave clients tell me how "detoxing" was, for them, used exclusively for the purpose of cleaning up their bodies from the inside out...so that when they were discharged from our unit, they could recapture that "first high" feeling of their drug(s) of choice when using for the first time (again!) post-rehab. Wow. Who knew eh? They did...and I learned. Such a cycle among certain addicts who repeatedly bounce in and out of rehab may sound ludicrous, but remind me how many times addicts typically enter/exist rehab before sobriety (or death!) sticks? Google it. You'll amaze yourself.
Did you think Anne Heche (the actor who just died last week from driving while under the influence of narcotics) thought she would leave the store, after buying herself a red wig, only to crash her car into a random house and set herself and her car on fire? No, she did not. Sadly, she did not notice or recognize the risk associated with doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted without regard for her personal safety. Bad decision. Now she has two sons whose lives are forever altered because their beautiful and vibrant "mom" was taken out at the young age of 53. I bet if she could come back now, she'd make those kids promise NEVER to make light of the horrifying and permanent impact that drug use and poor choices can have on one's mind, body, and spirit!
To believe one can live by the sword of increasingly immoral and risky choices and come out of such a lifestyle unscathed...is probably the biggest lie and form of self-deception there is among us humans. To me, that's like food handlers in a manufacturing plant going into work each day after they just used their own hands as toilet paper! What the...??! I know, I tend to lean towards the dramatic when using anaolgy to prove my point. Yet it is what it is. A person cannot be or live "dirty" and then expect "clean" results! It doesn't work that way. Nothing works that way!
Whatever getting clean means to you in your own life, there's no time like the present to start your own good work in this regard. Cleaning up your act begins by recognizing what it is that you ARE or ARE NOT doing that puts you smack in the middle of this "living by the sword" lifestyle. What are you avoiding being responsible for...that in truth, you ARE personally responsible for? What are you chasing after to make yourself feel powerful...or feel "pleasured" on an "on demand" ongoing basis? What are you doing to wreck yourself...or others you say you love and care about...because you can't think or see past your own nose of envy/greed/gluttony/pride/anger/laziness and/or lust?
Time to start working on achieving better results! If you need help for that as part of your own personal journey towards freedom, you know how to reach me---or someone else equally qualified and licensed to help you.
Today really can and does represent the first day of a whole new life...when you choose it!
Until next post....