Never Look Down (Reflection)

There was a time I judged and compared myself to a heroin addict. I use to look down on them, I used to report them to the staff in homeless hostels. I judged them wrongly I can admit today. They are as equal as anybody else. They are somebody’s son or daughter, in some cases they are a brother or sister. In my own case an uncle. They are Father’s and Mother’s too. It actually took me turning to heroin for a period to knock the judgemental side of me out. In recovery and in addiction I have an awful habit of comparing myself to others’.

I believe at times I am different to others, this allows me to either justify my addictions or puts me on a pedestal when I’m sober. I have often read homeless stories of people who felt like the world was looking down on them for sitting on a street corner. The word compassion has come into my head. Having compassion for others is a value I have worked hard on. I no longer judge, I see myself as an equal. There is nobody in the world that are greater and lesser than others. There was a time I was very materialistic too, (I still have these traits, they just aren’t as provident as they were before. In Smart Recovery it asks you to list your values to build motivation. I listed money in my values. I no longer see it as a primary value of mine. My values today include ‘doing good by others’, ‘living an independent and honest life’ and ‘being a disciple to my family and myself’. Through this website I can achieve my values. In AA they call it a ‘selfish programme’. Maybe I should consider this a ‘selfish website’. I’m hopeful some day that it will fulfill me, there is still an emptiness yearning inside me.

A day may come too where you find yourself or find a loved one in a position of addiction. How would you feel about it then? I don’t like quoting from other websites but upon writing this I just had to Google ‘How many addicts are there in the world?’. Here is what came up:

“Drug use and abuse remains a very real problem in many parts of the world, although the extent of the issue varies greatly depending on culture, access, and legislation. In 2021, the estimated number of illegal drug users worldwide was around 296 million.”19 Nov 2024

Source:
Global drug use – Statistics & Facts | Statista

Statista

https://www.statista.com › … › State of Health

Finally, kindness can help both those in addiction and those in recovery. You don’t need to be financially kind either, a simple hello or smile could change somebody suffering from addiction or a homeless person’s day. Taking the time to listen or talk to somebody in or out of addiction and homelessness is of far greater value than a can of Linden Village. I’ve been fortunate enough to get both the connection with others’ and the financial reward of a Linden Village. I’ll finish this article quoting something I was thought in the world of hospitality and growing up:‘Good manners cost you nothing’