Thursday, April 7, 2011

Did the 4 of you miss me???

And......I'm back!

Where did I go?  I have no idea.  My blogging love ebbs and flows these days.  Some days I can't shut up. Other days, I have nothing (valid or otherwise) to say.

It wasn't until I read this next quote that I felt inspired to share:

 
Every human is an artist, a storyteller with a unique point of view. When we see ourselves as artists, we no longer feel the need to impose our story on others or to defend what we believe. We know that every artist has the right to create his own art.  
-don Miguel Ruiz

Recently there has been a big hoopla over the liquor sales in the great state of Utah.  I know, when is liquor NOT an issue here? Never. It's just in the news these days. 

The idea is to shut down several liquor stores to "cut spending".  And now, this nutter wants to take beer out of convenient stores.

(I'm all for saving money, but why would you shut down an entity that's making money? To save money?  I'm confused....)

Now, believe me when I say, if you don't drink, GOOD FOR YOU.  Good on ya!  My experience tells me that it's expensive and probably causes a ton of unnecessary problems for people.  It helps us make stupid decisions and look like idiots, and this is when incriminating photos and videos end up on the interwebs. 

However, that isn't the point.

So I have a couple questions:

  1. Is this issue really about alcohol?   It doesn't seem to be. The older I get, the more I realize that most people don't impose on others because they care.  It's simply because they believe they are right.  If you disagree, then you are wrong.  Or uninformed.  Or you just don't know what is best for you. 
  2. Why is this even a problem?  When did it become so important to be in control?  When did it become okay to say that one person is right and another is wrong?
It's inspiring in a way that someone who believes so strongly that alcohol is wrong would go to these lengths. Okay, I can dig that even. I respect this opinion and everyone's right to have one.

The issue is simply that everyone does not share this opinion.

We're not talking about the problems that alcohol creates either. 

For example, some nut job will probably argue that if we're going to let it run free that we should just let everyone drink.  Let's just give it to minors then!  Well here's the thing.  There's medical research that indicates that our brains are not fully developed until our early-mid twenties.  So when I say that I don't support providing minors with alcohol, and that I support the laws that prohibit it, it's based on scientific fact.  It stunts physical and emotional development. It causes learning disabilities and issues with impulse control.  What we're talking about, is our adult right to put whatever we want in our bodies.  So should crack be legal? Why not? I'm still going to choose not to use it, either way.  There is also strong scientific evidence that indicates that using crack probably isn't the wisest choice for most people.

Those who are trying to make it about the alcohol will inevitably bring up drinking and driving or alcoholism and it's effect on families or some other such and such.  This indicates that these people are completely missing the point. No one is arguing that alcohol can destroy someone's life.  But so can work.  So can overeating.  So can depression. So can driving and trying to talk on the phone or use your iPod.

Where's the evidence that over regulating liquor decreases people's use, decreases people's decisions to break other laws, or increases other alcohol related issues?  I haven't seen any.  If you have, please let me know. 

In fact, human nature makes people want to drink more when you make such a big deal out of it.  Chances are, if you would just shut up about it, people wouldn't be so upity.  If you tell me I can't, I'm going to tell you to eff off and do it anyway.

How do people not know this? 

We have become so focused on finding solutions, that we jump the gun and create something that won't work. Guess who's fault it is if they drink too much and then go out and kill someone? That person. Not the bartender who sold him that last drink before he walked out the door.  Being drunk doesn't make you any less of an adult. 

Not to be all therapisty, but even in a DUI situation, alcohol isn't the problem...it's the symptom....just sayin'.

It's not about that. How many times have I said this now?

What I see, and what has been so eloquently stated by the don himself, is that if we paid more attention to our own stories, our own bodies, our own lives, we would finally feel fulfilled to the point that that need to impose our beliefs on others would be eliminated. 

Live your own best life.  Do what is best for you.

What a concept.  Live and let live.  Because who am I?

NOBODY.

And the only person I am an expert on, is me. For me to tell someone that the way they do things is wrong is completely pointless.  I can offer my point of view.  I can offer new perspective.  I can tell you what I'd do in any given situation. I can make observations and tell you what I think.  But none of this makes you wrong.  There is no wrong, there is no problem.  If there is no problem, then you don't need a solution.  It simply is.

If someone wants to drink, do drugs, work 80 hours a week, run 10 marathons, eat a whole pizza, have 4 wives, be homeless, or whatever, what right do I have to say their way is not the best way for them?

None.

None whatsoever.  When those choices begin to affect me, then I get to be a grown up and decide for myself how I am going to pariticpate. 

Because that's what grown ups do.

Passing laws based on moral beliefs that have little or no research to back up their effectiveness, is what babies do. 

But that's just my opinion....

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