Today, November 1st, is a day many people use to celebrate people who have died. Whether they go to religious services, decorate graves, or participate in other activities, people often use this day to think about departed people and the past.
Thinking about the past can be useful in so many ways. We’ve all heard George Santayana’s famous phrase, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (It seems like even if we remember that particular phrase, we’re doomed to hear people repeat it, but that’s another rant for another day.)
Remembering the past can be useful when thinking about drug and alcohol abuse. Well, most of us have known people who have struggled with substance use disorder, or maybe we’ve struggled with it ourselves. Remembering what others have experienced (or what we’ve experienced) might help us examine our present relationships with substances.
If these other people recovered from substance use disorder, that’s even better. This means that they successfully sought treatment or took other measures to address and treat their substance use disorder. These actions can create healthier lives. We hope they’ll also create happier lives as well.
Their recoveries also provide great examples for other people struggling with alcohol abuse or drug. Examples can be so helpful. They’re not only talking the talk, but walking the walk. These people are living, breathing inspirations that although substance use disorder can be truly horrible, change and hope are possible.
And they can help make our lives easier. Who doesn’t want that? We live in an age where information is bombarding us, we’re rushing around to take care of everything in our lives, and things just seem to be happening very quickly all of the time. It’s no wonder that people are developing hacks to make things easier, simpler, and better.
Can people serve as hacks? Why not? If people can spare other people problems or at least make their problems a little less burdensome, why shouldn’t people take advantage of the resources they have to offer. Life can be tough, but other people can make it better. We should remember that.
