As I was leaving London Drugs at a little after 6:30 PM Sunday April 30th I say a mother struggling to get her daughter’s wheelchair onto the sidewalk and through the building entrance. Why did she have to struggle? Because some ill-mannered, inconsiderate idiot had parked in the clearly marked no parking zone and blocked the ramp for wheelchair access. To the driver to that red, Chevrolet Venture passenger van, plate ATW 777 … I was thinking of asking if you were raised in a barn, but I would not want to insult the barnyard animals by suggesting they would sink to your level. Still, it must be handy to be able to walk under a snake’s belly without having to worry about bumping your head.
Ready vs. Not Ready
Ready? Not Ready? For what? To make a change, to embrace making the change with all your heart and mind, since if you are not totally committed to making the change you will fail. This is why the experts say not to make New Year’s resolutions and expect to turn over a new leaf on January 1st. Rather, they say, you should begin whatever it is you want to do when you are mentally ready to change your behaviour and work hard to achieve your goals. Why is this important to realize and take into consideration? Because it is as true for an addiction as it is for starting an exercise program or quitting smoking. It is why it is so crucial to have the facilities (detox, treatment or recovery) available RIGHT THEN, at the point in time when the addict is ready to change from addiction to recovery.
I grew up in an addiction (alcoholic) household which resulted in me having ways of thinking and acting that are the same as if I had and addiction myself. In dealing with these bad mental habits I have learned just how powerful a disease it is. To me it is a disease since it can be passed to others even if they have no addictions. As someone said to me “It is a disease all right, with its own special brand of insanity. Who would choose to live life in the manner of an addict if they were sane.”
Life experience has given me an appreciation of just how powerful addiction is. Empathy and sympathy mean that instead of running you maintain friendships and acquaintances over time, seeing what is happening in people’s lives as a result of their addiction. It is also what causes anger at the lack of resources. You watch someone destroying themselves until they reach a point they can and are ready to make a choice, a choice only they can make for themselves. They reach a point where they want to get out of the cycle of addiction, begin to recover and get on with living. They choose to seek and except help. If they are lucky, there is a spot open and they begin their journey of recovery. To often they are scheduled for a ‘spot’ not available for a week or two weeks. You see them on the day they were scheduled to enter treatment … and they are high and totally in thrall to their addiction again. Any help for this person will have to wait until they themselves cycle to a point they are ready to make a choice and commit to the hard work of recovery.
Addiction is not like cosmetic surgery where one can schedule the procedure when convenient and surgeon and facilities are available. Addiction is more akin to the deadly bacterial infection I picked up at the end of January. In order to survive and live I needed to begin antibiotics immediately. Fortunately the resources for me to live and recover from the bacterial infection were available immediately. This is why facilities and resources need to be available – NOW. If this does not result the most efficient scheduling and use of facilities … to bad, we are talking about saving lives – NOW.
Resisting Negativity
Some people are carriers of negativity. They are storehouses of pent-up anger and volatile emotions. Some remain trapped in the victim role and act in ways that further their victimization. And others are still caught in the cycle of addictive or compulsive patterns.
Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we’re struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them. We do not have to go. Without judgment, we can decide it’s okay to walk away, okay to protect ourselves.
We cannot change other people. It does not help others for us to get off balance. We do not lead others into the Light by stepping into the darkness with them.
Mike Reisig’s letter, Times April 25-06
Mr Reisig hastens to assure the reader “first let me say I am not without compassion” then proceeds to demonstrate a total lack of compassion. He does however, demonstrate his prejudice, worship of the almighty dollar, an ability to jump to unjust conclusions to support his intolerance, stereotyping, fear mongering, a total lack of generousity of the spirit, ill will and an barbaric inhumanity to his fellow man.
If Mr. Reisig thinks it is so easy to find solutions to what is a very complex situation that he condemns the Mayor for pausing to think and consult with the community, he is the one whose intelligence should be questioned.Should Mr. Reisig feel insulted by my drawing attention to his demonstrated lack of brainpower, he may prove me wrong by laying out his miraculous quick, easy, neat and tidy solution to the issue of homelessness.
Homelessness is a community problem and will require the community to begin to address the needs of the diverse group of people who make up the ranks of the homeless in Abbotsford.
Homeless Press Report
(HP) Abbotsford, BC
In a supremely ironic twist of fate it would appear that the wrong group was worried about the honesty of their new neighbours. Over the past several days the residents of Compassion Park have suffered the theft of several valuable and needed items. These items were of a large enough size that they could not have been removed through the Park unto Highway 11 without the residents seeing the thief. The only path the thief (thieves) could have used to enter and exit unseen is via the residential neighbourhood adjacent to Compassion Park. Thus it seems that the residents of this adjacent neighbourhood should not have been nearly as concerned about theft and the honesty of their new neighbours in Compassion Park as they (and obviously the residents of the Park) should have been/be concerned about the honesty of their old neighbours in their residential suburb.