Life from the easy chair.

I think what really has been standing out to me lately is to some people one thing can make their life rocky, and to another person it is no problem. Like someone who has a problem with alcohol, can't control their problem, and have to find ways to help out. Once they figure out they need help. To someone else, alcohol isn't a problem.

But the part that has been getting to me is thinking we are better than someone who has a problem that we don't have. And probably never will have. We don't fully understand that it can be a problem.

We tend to have compassion toward those who are going or have been through the same trials as we have.

I had an uncle who had a problem with alcohol. As a teenager I wondered why he couldn't just stop drinking. I knew that the addiction was a factor, I dimly realized that he had to want to quit, for himself, and not for anyone or anything else. I couldn't understand why he had to give an excuse that held him in his prison. He would rather get away from this world than give up his worst enemy which to him seemed like his best friend. His best ally. What he thought was his only hope.

I think we all struggle to get away from the world in one way or another. And most times what we struggle with most is something that we would rather hold onto than give up. We are too afraid to give it up. We don't even think that it is a problem, or try to fool ourselves into thinking it isn't one. And sometimes we talk ourselves into thinking that it is good. For the best.

Like situations that happen in life. For example, you don't get a job you really wanted. How many times have I heard; "well I really didn't like *this* about that job" or "I didn't feel comfortable with the job so I wouldn't have taken the job if it was offered anyways." When will we be honest with ourselves and others and just say, "I'm really disappointed I didn't get the job. I'm sure there are pros and cons to it, but there are in every job." I think we would rather hide the fact that we were disappointed with the results and put on a face by appearing that the situation has changed. Not only are we trying to fool others around us, we are successfully fooling ourselves.

All of us fight with that brutal thing called honesty. We deceive, we manipulate, we think we are better than someone around us. Have to have that one up on someone. It isn't comfortable to think that we aren't perfect. Or that we have problems. We would rather hide it than face it. And it's not that we are all afraid of facing it. It's just that it is more comfortable on this side.