A time to change Canada?
Alcohol and substance abuse is prevalent in our society as a whole. I believe it is time to wake up. This mess is everywhere. It is totally destroying the family unit.
How many parents right now hover in fear every day and every night because their child or young adult son or daughter has been lost to substance abuse? The resulting substance rages and verbal abuses are endless as they constantly quench their addictions. The pain and suffering being caused by this is unprecedented.
Let’s call this the “behind the living room curtains” syndrome. Parents, it is important that you know this. You cannot fix this alone. At that point you are not dealing with your son or daughter. You are dealing with the substance and you know it has no feelings or memory for you at all. Call for help.
So, what else can we fix? There is so much to do. Let’s first start with the hunger in Canada. Yes, in Canada. I believe internal hunger is the root cause of substance abuse. Hunger for food or proper nutrition and also hunger for being accepted as a welcome part of today’s society. For one, let’s ponder the following:
How many of you have felt what real hunger is like? No, I don’t mean a hunger pang or craving for a bagel or a hamburger and fries. I am referring to days and days with nothing to eat. All that exists at that point is the memory of what this or that food would taste like again if you could ever have some again.
One literally begins to look for something to numb the pain.
In the spring of 1976, I was working with a mining company in Guatemala, Central America. I arrived just weeks after the devastating 8.6 earthquake that smashed up Guatemala City and the surrounding district. Many died in that trap of nature’s furry where the earth heaved like huge waves every 20 meters, crushing everything in its way. The resulting orphans were starving, with no one to care for them. They wandered aimlessly as if in a trance.
I remember as a mining executive sitting in a restaurant eating my evening dinner when I looked up with my mouth full of food and saw four little hungry faces outside with their noses pressed up against the window as they were watching me eat.
That shocking moment was a “freeze frame” significant emotional event for me that I will never forget. After immediately taking dinners outside for them, I spent weeks after that desperately trying to feed all the orphans that I could find. I felt so helpless because I soon learned that I alone could not fix this monstrous situation.
Oh, but there is hope. Can we collectively, to start with, fix it here in Canada for the many who go hungry every day? You would be shocked to find out how many there are.
Can we fix this? Absolutely. We just have to look up and want to. Remember it is not important to ask who is this happening to, but rather, where is it and how can I begin to help to end it?
It can be as close to you as just behind your neighbor’s living room curtains.