A Single Moment

It’s something I’ve never understood or gave much leniency on. Whether it’s cigarettes, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol or heroin, my belief was ‘YOU put yourself in that situation and thus YOU must face the consequences.’ I just couldn’t understand why someone would willingly do something so harsh and damaging to themselves. I mean, we’ve all gone through Drug Week in elementary, middle, and high school, haven’t we?

The death of Cory Monteith, my idol, at the hands of addiction flipped my world upside down. Part of me was frustrated that he put himself in that situation. I was angry that he was too weak to stay away from drugs. I wanted to yell at him and shake him and punch him.

The other part of me wanted to understand. And the need to understand got me thinking.

I’m a weight conscious guy. I try to eat healthy to make up for the times that I don’t. I also work in construction. My job can be frustrating and exhausting at times. On those days, I swing by a fast food joint and pick up a large strawberry milkshake. Always large. Always strawberry. Always.

Today was a rough day. I turned into the parking lot of the fast food joint only to realize I didn’t have my debit card (I don’t carry cash). I scavenged my car for change but still came up short (even for a small), so I drove home. All I could think about during the drive was that damn shake. Even with my low fuel light on, I went back out to get that milkshake before I even consider getting gas. And let me tell you, it was worth it.

At that moment, I realized all it takes is a single moment of weakness to succumb to addiction. One. Single. Moment. I think everyone can attest to how impossible stressful aggravating difficult life can be. We've all had our moment of weakness. For some, it’s strawberry milkshakes. For others, it’s chocolate. We only see the result of those guilty pleasures when we step on the scale. But whether it’s chocolate or drugs, we succumbed to a moment of weakness. We let outside forces get the best of us. Why? Because we CAN NOT be strong every day all day. We need something to take us away from the pressure.

Unfortunately, sometimes drugs take us away permanently.

What are your thoughts?