Alcohol: A Devil!

When the wine goes in, strange things come out.  

~Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, The Piccolomini, 1799

I have seen what alcohol does to people and its really not a good sight. In my family I know of a person who is an alcoholic, and by alcoholic, I mean he just can't do without alcohol (he needs it 24/7). 

He has been to countless rehab centers....been admitted in the hospital because of his bad liver condition....tried to quit, but it just doesn't seem to work out.  As a kid, I'd seen him as two different individuals --

1) When he was sober,

2) When he was drunk.

The former was a quiet person who was struck with inferiority complex about not being financially able like his wife and the latter was a talkative person who'd head over to even a random person and start a conversation.

I was always terrified when he'd be drunk because it made him do things, he didn't want to. He'd hurl abuses at his wife and the neighbors and thought himself superior to anyone else. According to him, he was always right. Drinking would make him violent and when I saw what he'd say and do to my mother, I would rush to the bathroom and lock myself up and start crying. I had thoughts of running away with my mother to some place he'd never find us.....to a place I'd never have to see him again....where it was just me and my Mom! But when he'd be sober, he was a very loving man, respected by everyone around him. And in those times, I felt I really couldn't do without him. 

Dad could never hold his liquor, and as years passed, I lost respect for the man. But now at the age of 64, when he has a bad liver condition and finds it difficult to walk, I cant help but sympathize with him. After all he is my father. My mother has always been there for him, despite all the hardships she has had to face. She is truly the man in the house. She never leaves hope and she never leaves his side. She never complains and she never breaks down. When I see him in such a state, my heart weeps, I don't know why. Maybe deep inside, I do love him. Maybe. The doctors say that my father is a very lucky man to have survived death for so long and that maybe God is being considerate in his case. But for some reason I can't figure out why, God would be so mean with my mother. She didn't deserve this. Not one bit. Alcohol can be such a devil.  

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First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.           

~Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

I have a best friend who I've known for six years now.

In school, she was always a happy-go-lucky girl who'd make everyone smile. Due to certain circumstances, her life took a 360 degree turn and she had to go through a lot of pain. She would indulge into activities that led to self-harm and seemed to be happy about it. Soon she found another outlet. She detested alcohol but as her visits to the lounges became frequent, alcohol seemed to attract her. Earlier it was just for peace of mind (though I personally think alcohol is only an escape, which really doesn't work till you think of it like that!), but soon she seemed to be having it, just for the heck of it!

One night, she turned up at my place completely drunk and she couldn't remember much. She was screaming, hollering, crying, hallucinating and had suicidal tendencies. She could see things, she didn't want to see and feel things, she didn't want to feel.  She felt like she was dying and I couldn't do much to help her. I had never felt so helpless. It hurt me to see her like that but I somehow did manage to put her to sleep.

Next morning when she woke up, her head felt heavy and after recollecting the events of the previous night she completely broke down. She felt guilty and ashamed and vowed to never touch the damn thing again. Well till date she has stuck to her promise. :) ... Since that day, I made a promise to myself that I would never drink.

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All I know is Alcohol makes you do things that you would later tend to regret and by the time you want to repent, it's too late. So please STOP DRINKING guys because its not about how much you drink or why you drink or if you can control it or not. Over a period, heavy consumption of alcohol would definitely result in an extensive damage to almost every system in your body. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism has a major impact on society causing thousands of innocent deaths each year and situations involving violent crimes and domestic violence. An addicted and habitual alcoholic person is a curse to his family, his coworkers and overall him or herself. At the end of the day, it is about your own health and for the welfare of your family. 

The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity. 

Rest you know what's best for yourself!

:)