The War on Drugs

Normally, I don't condone fighting a war that can't be won. The war on drugs is no exception. the only war on drugs that can be fought successfully is between an individual and his or her own demons.

Recently, I've been called to question my won philosophical stance on this subject when confronted with the potential horrors of the human condition.  As daunting a prospect as it may be, with freedom comes awesome responsibility, and human beings are free to choose what we will accept in our lives. We are also free to choose to die a miserable death.

When I first viewed these dismal images, I wondered how someone could allow him or herself to be overcome by such an evil, and consumed by such helplessness.

I supposed it is a learned response like an elephant held by an empty 
chain.

The story goes that when an elephant is young, and small he can be chained to a heavy weight, and he quickly learns that he cannot escape the burden of that weight.  He learns that he is not free. As the elephant grows into massive adulthood, he no longer needs the weight, simply the empty, hanging chain is enough to hold him in place.  For he has already learned that he is not free, so there is no reason even to try to escape.  Consequently, there he remains stationary, chained only to the memory of bondage.

If we believe we are helpless, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This represents our biggest fear, that if we are left to our own devices we will consistently make stupid choices. I've come to understand that frequently we don't trust ourselves, and we don't trust the Universe to support us. This is a loss of faith. It's a mindset of fear, scarcity and limitation.

If we choose instead to believe that our natural state is a state of abundant, well-being, and if we choose to recognize even the smallest discomfort as feedback for guidance toward our true nature, then through deliberate intent we will eventually move inch-by-inch toward a joyful Truth.

Naturally, some will choose only to see what is wrong, and will thereby attract more of it. That too is their right. I am not diminished by anyone else's choices, except to the extent I believe their differences diminish me.