Have Another Drink. Why?
I constantly find myself seeing things differently than people I am with. Cultural norms that people accept as divine laws to live by amaze me every single day. I remember asking “but why” as far back as my memory goes. I probably asked “why” as a baby before I could even talk.
I’d see people do a certain thing, say certain things, or react in certain ways, then I’d ask myself “why”? I asked why because the actions did not seem positive, or seemed lacking in judgment, logic, or respect. Asking “why” meant that something did not make sense to me.
If I verbalized my questions I usually heard unsatisfying answer, most of the time the answers went like this: “because that is the culture”, or “because it’s in the bible”, or (this may be my favorite one) “because this is what people do”. Some may call you “weird” for questioning “what people do”. Years went by, my questions never got an answer.
Today, I have much more insight into human reasoning and behavior, coupled with love and understanding. Thanks to hypnosis, varied life experiences and guidance, I understand why people do things better.
Understanding something doesn’t mean I agree with it though. It also doesn’t mean I stopped asking “why”. I continue to ask “why” now purely from sheer amazement.
One simple, yet very common example that I came across recently was being at a party, with alcoholic beverages, and seeing a gal tell her friend “have another drink.” When the friend indicated a “no”, the gal insisted and asked again trying to be more persuasive.
This made me shake my head in disagreement, I probably gave the persons a shocked look as well. I hide my opinions less than I used to do as a kid, some people don’t like that. I don’t care.
Replace the alcoholic beverage seen here with food, fashion, cars, work, computer games, opinions, actions, pretty much anything that a person (a groups, an institution, organization etc) may ask you to do (or think) because they think “it is cool”, or because “it is the way people do things.”
Now, if you take a moment to think about this, you may start notice how common this example is.
If your friend was a true friend, she/he would RESPECT your wishes and opinions. When you say “no” to any idea, a “real friend” would immediately respect your “no”, they will smile and move on to another issue out of sheer respect for you. It’s true that your friend my have the idea that drinking more means “you are having more fun”, she/he may want to see you have more fun based on their understanding of “having fun”, but if you said “no”, for whatever reason then a “no” is a “no”.
You do not need persuasion, you do not need someone to tell you how to have fun. YOU are the one having fun, you decide what fun is to you.
When your gut feeling, desires, or simple leanings go in one direction, if you are happy doing a certain thing, and are then faced with a friend (or anyone for that matter) telling you that this is “not how people have fun”, be bold and say “No.”,
“This is how I have fun.” “This is how I enjoy life”.
After quickly reading 
I found myself at urgent care having trouble breathing last week. After many hours of tests and waiting, I was admitted in at the hospital and diagnosed with Pulmonary Embolism (a blood clot in the lung with a 30% mortality rate). Luckily, the one I had was small in size and I bounced back on my feet quickly.
Wont you say that the pursuit of happiness is one thing that is programed in most of us? Not counting mentally unstable individuals, its safe to assume that we all want to be happy. The interesting thing though is how little we know about what it takes to be happy or satisfied. We often seek happiness only to create suffering.
Plaque (a sticky colorless film of bacteria that constantly builds up then thickens and hardens on the teeth) hardens into tartar and contributes to infections in the gums. Constant brushing, flossing and oral hygiene practices are needed to fight plaque.
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