Self Control

To me the most important quality a person can have is self control. This goes along with my previous article about taking responsibility for one's self and actions. It occurred to me the other day when I thought about a few friends of mine. To preface this, I drink occasionally with my friends, have a good time, that sort of thing. If you read my other blogs you will also know that I am open to try just about anything once. But on a certain occasion my friend told me the reason he didn't want to drink along with us or join us in going out was because alcoholism "runs in his family" and he was scared he would be consumed by alcoholism as well. On another occasion when a different friend was casually asked if he would like to smoke with us, he replied, " I don't want to because I am scared I will become a pothead." Now, I fully respect any life decision a person wants to make regarding these things. If a person doesn't want to drink or smoke or whatever I have no problem with it, all the power to them. The problem I have with my friend's responses is that the reason they don't do it is because they are scared they don't have full control over themselves. To me this is, in a way, pathetic. If they were to have responded, "No, I don't really like drinking," or, "No, I think smoking is unhealthy," I would totally understand and respect their answer. But the responses filled with fear frustrate me. People need to realize that they are not held captive by some controlling power, and that their primal urges to become a raging alcoholic can not overpower their mind. Your mind controls what you do, if you are not a strong enough person to say, "Well, I've been drinking very frequently, I should probably stop," then you are straight up a weak person. If a person is scared to climb a tall tower because they are scared they will fall, that is a valid fear because that person, hate so say it, but they don't control gravity. People are in control of their body though, so why be scared that their body will somehow get a mind of its own and take over their brain? Neither thing is physically addictive so that's not excuse. I just cannot stand when people worry about things that they have a total power to change. I will try to think of a metaphor that characterizes how I think of it in my brain. It is like a person never sitting down because they are scared that if they sit down they will get too comfortable and not be able to get up. Well who controls those leg muscles? The brain! All they have to do is have enough self control to stand up. Problem solved.

This was kind of a rant, but this really frustrates me. Realize it people, you control what you do. Don't ever be afraid of losing control, just know that you control you, it's really very simple. If you are afraid of losing control in situations then work on your self control, ok?