Saturday, April 12, 2008

Quiet is for the Contented



Excited: Emotionally aroused; agitated.

Alcoholics are addicted to excitement and repelled by humdrum routine. We wish it could always be New Year’s Eve – standing in the middle of a crowd of pulsating people, balloons falling, firecrackers popping, lights flashing, bass a-booming. A tremendous rush of excitement and well being on the one night out of the year when our drunken stupor is a badge of honor. We crave teetering right on the knife-edge of disaster.

This chaos confuses us; we equate it with happiness. Quiet acceptance of the many blessings in our lives seems to be a life sentence for the eternally doomed. People with some semblance of normal emotional balance don’t think like this. They recognize that a surge of chemicals and alcohol does not equal happiness. An alcoholic, conversely, believes that this is the precise definition of happiness. We are in heaven when we are racing toward hell.

It takes some time to recognize that what happens in our lives on a day to day basis is all that we can rightly expect from life. Enjoyment of something simple; acceptance by our friends and family; quiet feelings of contentment – these are the true yardsticks of happiness. We can be happy sitting quietly and being in the moment.

Take a deep breath and take a look around.

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