See You In The Light

Michael Franti is easily one of my all-time favorite artists. See You In The Light is an incredible song. There is one line in this song that hit me like a brick the very first time I heard it: If you want to scare away the vampires, simply guide them into the light.

How true is that? I'm not on my own computer as I write this, so my beloved Ocean program is not within my reach, and Google is, for once, failing me on Baha'i quotes on guiding or leading one's fellow man into the light.

I have so many friends who drink and, well, do other things that just aren't good for them, and sometimes trying to guide them to the light is an awful lot like trying to nail jello to a tree. I try, though, and many of them eventually at least question what it's like to be sober/Baha'i/etc. I'm always very happy when they ask these questions, because it means they are, somewhere in their own mind, comparing my choices to ones they could make. I am so much happier since I quit drinking, I enjoy life so much more. Some folks assume it's because I was so wrapped up in alcohol that I wasn't enjoying life. It wasn't quite that way, though. I was an alcoholic at one point and time, yes, but to say I wasn't having fun would have been wrong. There were many years (I drank for nearly a decade of my life) that I was able to control my drinking, and that I enjoyed going out, and had fun and drank. However, even in the best moments, there was that element of awareness I had to have- what most people hear as merely "drinking responsibly". Being aware of how much you're drinking, and being able to keep it at a place where you're not worried of being taken advantage of, or doing something ridiculous/violent. Being sober has removed that need for vigilance. Now, I go out, and I can dance on the bars, do cartwheels across the park, whatever the heck I want to, and know that, come morning, I won't be any more concerned about making that choice than I was when I did it in the first place.

It took me a long time to lose control of my drinking, and a bit longer to understand what I needed to do, but I did it. September 21st will be 18 months sober, and I'm proud of myself. I went out to watch the UFC fight last night (something I enjoy despite it's inherent violence) and watched people get really ignorant. There was a lot of alcohol, naturally, and I watched beers and jello shots being downed by my friends. One got so drunk he walked into his parent's glass kitchen door hard enough to break it. How that's possible, I don't know, but he did. I can't possibly explain how happy I am not to have to worry about that stuff anymore! I got a lot of smack over it at first, people trying to get me to drink, but now, it's pretty much down to one 'You sure you don't want a drink?' per every couple of people, and usually only the first time I'm around them. It's so much cheaper this way, too.