This is meant to be a wake-up call for a friend who is wasting his life like so many other people are doing. It is disappointing to see how many people resort to drugs and alcohol to use them as ‘’pain killers’’ and ultimately escape reality. And it is sad that so many of them are gifted people and full of potential. (I am not going to mention any names for obvious reasons. I am just going to refer to him as ‘A’. –it’s not even the initial of his real name).
We first met when we were kids in elementary school, we parted and we found each other again a couple of years ago via Facebook. We were happy to see each other again. It felt like finding a lost sibling!
It was quite obvious from the first time we spoke that he was taking drugs. He had that distinct, slow speech that only addicts or people who have had a stroke have, and the latter was out of the question. He confirmed it at some point and he was very open to discussion. It was as if he wanted to take the load off his shoulders. We spoke several times for hours on and he told me what he had gone through: how he started taking drugs, how he lost a whole fortune he had inherited, what had happened in his love life and the role his addiction played in that, what he had seen, what he had done and what he had refrained from… I didn’t interrupt him. It felt like a real confession.
The only time I felt his voice shaking was when he mentioned his grandfather. A man whom I had met and he was a real saint but I am not going to go into any specifics because I don’t want to give away their identity.
‘A’ said that he isn’t doing hard drugs anymore. I can’t be sure if that is true or not. The only thing I know is that you can tell immediately whenever he has smoked: often he doesn’t make sense, his speech suddenly becomes slow and sleepy and you know…
I am angry! Angry that he is giving up on life!! Angry that he is wasting his life for whatever problems he went through early on in his life!
He is a healthy man who is trying to cause problems to himself. He is seeing the cliff and he is walking straight towards it as if he is sleep-walking. I am angry because he managed to get into one of the best Universities in Greece and dropped out. I am angry because he is a very talented man in a specific kind of art and he is dealing with obstacles most of which are self-inflicted!! I am angry because this addiction doesn’t allow him to reach his potential! Doesn’t allow him to be the best he can!!
He is a well-travelled man and yet he has managed to get stuck in the place he is currently living, afraid that something is going to happen to him. He is a clever man who can write amazing literature but not confident enough to try to have it published. He doesn’t even have the mind at the moment to sit down and focus on doing something like this, let alone write something new. He is a man who has read like very few people have and he can recite pages of his favorite books with passion that can make you both cry and laugh depending on his swinging mood. He can be a little (or very) opinionated. He can analyze literature and poetry and find parallels, make comparisons like few people can… but all that goes to waste.
But ‘A’ can also be very dark, pessimistic and even offensive and at that point there is no reason trying to communicate as you would normally do with another person. You just stop the conversation, let him cool down and you know that the next time you talk he will be calm and even apologize. Communicating with him is like walking on thin ice.
‘A’ has a good soul. Drugs don’t. And whenever they are taking control it’s like I am watching ‘’Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’’… on repeat. Ι have been told that what is called «tough love» is the best way to make someone realize the situation he is in. This is your wake-up call! Now, before it is too late!! You are wasting your life!!
You know what? Just take a walk at the children’s anticancer hospitals. Just visit them and spend some time with them. See how they suffer and at the same time observe how they weather it out. They don’t complain, they don’t find excuses, they are fighting through and as soon as they feel better they start singing and dancing even if they can’t stand on their feet (they just sit on their beds and dance). If they can do it, there is no doubt in my mind you can!!
Life is hard and full of struggles!! Nobody else will fight your battles for you!!! Nobody else!! Stand up and fight for YOUR FUTURE, YOUR LIFE!! You are gifted and full of potential!!! Reach it!!!!
Text: Argyro F.
DOTS & LINES 
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