When you have been hitting the bottle a little more than usual, perhaps because of stress, perhaps because of a broken heart, perhaps because you just like the feel, taste and touch of a lager you could be walking a very daunting line, that is if you can!
So what gives with the drink other than the mates who seem to measure their masculinity by it, are unable to let go of their hard drinking college days because of it, enjoy happy go lucky cocktails at the cricket club, wild parties down the disco, and a few drinks to celebrate a work promotion as a matter of course?
The fact is more than a few guys drown their troubles in the hard stuff simply because they hurt badly. Society sells an image of a clear cut, successful, handsome, debonair, rich and powerful avatar to emulate, not a kind, sensitive and gentle man. If a guy cannot keep up with the “image”, he might resort to downing a pint or two out of sheer frustration. Yet he will be unaware his heart is hurting bad, and that if he continues this way he will never fulfill his dreams. A strange but true fact is that Spirit is just what he needs, not the Spirit in a bottle but the Spirit of life, not the alcohol that allows a chap to forget he has failed, but a Holy Spirit that reveals his true self, and fills his heart with love and light.
What Alcoholics Anonymous does is help a man understand the power within him, a power that is unique, one that he does not have to emulate. In other words, a healing alcoholic fills his heart and mind with another kind of Spirit, the one that expresses itself through his soul. Maybe because Alcoholics Anonymous is clever enough to know that one has to substitute “the drink” with something pretty strong if a guy is addicted and what could be stronger than a Greater Power? In other words AA bases its premise on turning our will and our lives over to the care of God. The programme creates an intimate relationship with a Divine Force. Prayer and meditation are included in the programme, and personal awakening is often the result.
When a guy becomes aware of how he is damaging his life with his habit, he might turn to a metaphysical worker also. He might realise he wants to live another way, perhaps somewhere else, where there is love and joy. The rise of his internal Spirit could be a reflection of his sanity in other words. The materialistic world has failed him. For all his efforts he still cannot find peace within, he realises it, and therefore turning to a spiritual healer or empath is no longer eccentric, but a way to experience a refreshing new dimension, another type of lifestyle! In that seeking process, a bloke will experience materialists and skeptics pouring scorn on him, for he will be a man who goes beyond the plate, a man who will not tar the esoteric with their same brush, but will give it a chance to work in his life. After all he has tried everything else, and all it has brought him is self hatred.
Spirit is in everything, even in what drives us to distraction. Some might say “all that is” lies within the heart of God, even the addiction, even the anger, even the frustration. A chap can forgive himself for walking the wrong line therefore, and he can start again, any time, any place, if he just reaches out for that magical essence that resides within his heart. He finally knows he will not find solace in the bottle, but his soul. Cheers Mate!
