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Word of Wisdom: The Reality
If this series of articles has given you more information than you had before, or if reading it has helped you see the same old issues in a new way, then I’ve accomplished my purpose. I’m a person who believes in things strongly, and one of the things I believe in most strongly of all is the basic goodness and strength of Latter-day Saint youth. Given the right information, most of you will make choices that prove who you are: sons and daughters of God specifically reserved for this day and age because of your valiance. It took a lot of guts and gumption to come to earth, and that guts and gumption is exactly what’s needed to make the hard choices. In other words, you’ve got what it takes! May the Lord bless you in everything you do, and may every battle you win over the adversary leave you more aware of the incredible power and influence you wield as a son or daughter of God. Here is some additional food for thought on choice and accountability. LETTER FROM A FRIEND (This letter is from a real person and tells his true story; used by permission.) “On November 10, 1988, at 12:17 AM there was a major car accident in Santa Clara County. The driver of the car that caused the accident was drunk. He was speeding and ran a red light, hitting another car broadside, at the driver’s door. Three people were killed in this accident: a mother and two of her children. One child of hers survived. The drunk driver survived with minor injuries. He was arrested and charged with three counts of second degree murder and felony drunk driving. Ten months later, he was convicted of these charges, and fourteen months after the accident he was sentenced to a total of 48 years to life in prison, the maximum sentence possible. I am that drunk driver. It is difficult to express the sorrow I feel for the innocent victims involved. It is usually a subject I avoid because the memories are painful. I have always thought life to be a miraculous and precious thing, and then to take it away from three human beings, so senselessly, has caused me great anguish. The fact that the victims were a mother and two children just add to my sorrow. It was very hard to accept the day after, when reality finally hit. I didn’t want to live anymore. It took awhile for the will to live to come back. I had to change my attitude and lifestyle. To be able to live with myself I had to start recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. It is the main thing that gives my life meaning now. At this time, I am at Pelican Bay State Prison. It is the highest security prison in the State of California. We are always being watched by guards who carry automatic assault rifles. They will, and do, shoot at inmates when there is violence, or if a person were to try to escape. This is a totally alien and uncomfortable environment compared to what most people are used to. I would not recommend it for anyone, even the other inmates here. I think that you should know a little about my teenage years. Adolescence was a very difficult time for me. It is a time when body and mind change. The body matures and the mind becomes preoccupied with the opposite sex. In my case, my mind was changing but my body wasn’t, at least not as fast as my peers. I was small for my age at thirteen, and was very insecure. At this age, I discovered alcohol. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to drink alcohol, that it wasn’t legal for a thirteen-year-old to drink, but my friends were trying it, and being insecure already, I felt I had to, to fit in. I was also very curious, and when I finally did drink, I was surprised to find that I was no longer insecure. I felt comfortable around the popular crowd, and most importantly, I felt comfortable around popular girls. I was hooked from the moment I realized this magic quality of alcohol, although at the time I didn’t know that I was hooked. I think it is important to let you know that alcohol wasn’t the only drug I started using when I was thirteen. I also started smoking marijuana, and I experimented a little with amphetamines (uppers). Once I tried one drug the decision to try others came easier. By the time I was eighteen I had used alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, methamphetamines (crank), cocaine, LSD, and psychedelic mushrooms. Through all this time I got into trouble, mostly with my parents, but also a couple of times with the law. I figured at the time that most kids my age had these same things happen to them, at least a lot of the kids I was hanging around did. I didn’t feel it was that serious, even when I blacked out one night and threatened to kill my parents. Two police came, and an ambulance came and took me to the hospital tied to a gurney. I was embarrassed, and felt bad for a couple of days, but that wore off soon. When I was eighteen, after my senior year in high school, my parents were finally fed up with my crazy lifestyle. I think the last straw was when I quit going to summer school. I needed to finish summer school English class because I had failed it during the regular school year. Needless to say I didn’t graduate high school. I was given an ultimatum. I had to move out or go to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Being irresponsible, and realizing it, I realized I couldn’t make it on my own. I chose rehabilitation. It was the first time I really looked at myself and admitted I had a problem. The one program lasted thirty days, but I ended up going to another one on top of that one, and then a halfway house after that—five months of treatment. What happened? One thing that you must always remember is that a person is never cured. Recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction is an ongoing process. Three months after I got out of the halfway house, I started using drugs again. Slowly at first, but I was soon back to where I was. Because it started slowly, I had thoughts that maybe I wasn’t an alcoholic or a drug addict after all. Maybe I was just unlucky. It is the nature of the disease, and human nature, to not want to admit that something is wrong with me—that I’m not a normal person. It is like a cancer patient, when he first learns he has cancer, does not want to admit it or accept it. Alcoholism and drug addiction, like cancer, is terminal if not treated, and there is always a fear of relapse. Soon, I was worse than I was before the rehab program. Before I was twenty- one, I had two drunk driving [convictions]. I ended up losing my driver’s license for eighteen months. Being an auto mechanic, this was very hard on me, but that did not stop me—Nope. I managed to stay out of serious trouble with the law for the next two years. I had a few minor scrapes that were good for a couple of days in the county jail each, but they didn’t discourage me from my drug and alcohol abuse. A three-and-a-half-year relationship with a young lady went bitter and ended because of my drug and alcohol abuse. All this, and all I could manage was a couple of sorry attempts at recovery again. Because I never got serious about it, three innocent people died, and I’m in prison for many, many years, maybe for the rest of my life. I never thought that something like this could happen to me. I always thought that I had enough control over alcohol and drugs to know when to stop or to know when not to drive. In reality, I lost control as soon as I decided to have a drink or to take drugs. Taking drugs or drinking alcohol is like playing Russian roulette. You never know whether you will become addicted. Chances are that some of you that hear this will later become alcoholics or drug addicts. It is also very important to know that alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs there is, and it’s made more dangerous because, for people over twenty-one, it is legal. Not only is alcohol legal, it is socially acceptable. God have mercy on the people who can’t handle alcohol because society won’t tolerate drunkenness, but yet condones social drinking. That is what kills the alcoholic. For those who prefer illegal drugs, be aware that this new trend, `The War on Drugs,’ has no place for rehabilitation. The state is building huge human warehouses, called prison, for you. Remember that rehabilitation doesn’t always work the first time, and it takes a great amount of personal effort. Once one becomes despondent, they must never give up trying to recover, even if they keep going back to using. My advice to you is to stay away from all of it. It is not always easy; your friends may try it and try to draw you into it. Stay away from smoking too. It isn’t good for you and is also addicting. If you never try it, you’ll never have the problems that come with it, and you won’t be missing anything. Alcohol and drugs never solve problems—they just create more. Yours truly, TWO SECONDS IS ALL IT TAKES (written for Saratoga High School’s “Two Seconds Is All It Takes,” a program discouraging driving under the Influence of chemicals.) Twisted steel and broken lives Never shoulda happened—Who’s to blame? Walks to his car; waves good-bye Brand new system, soundin’ good Tragedy waitin’ around the bend There’s the school. Turn left here…Quick!! Arthur’s got no way to go World blows up like a hand grenade Jaws of life can tear and shred We need a level on this guy One more ambulance underway Johnny in cuffs, hangin’ his head Twisted steel and broken lives ©1999 Susan Noyes Anderson
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Today's date: March 20, 2010
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