Change is never easy.

Yesterday, I have told about the poor policeman with his burnt liver due to alcoholic drinks. Just as I was going to post it, a friend came. When he saw what I had written, he informed me of a fairly young man, aged thirty-six, who had the same problem. He had a burnt liver but according to this friend of mine, the guy did not stop drinking. It was not easy for him to stop as the shaking of his unsteady hands was worse without the alcoholic drinks. Well, it looked like he had a good excuse not to change, to carry on drinking despite the problem.

Even if the problem was not given the chance to materialise, it is never easy to change. There has to be a superb determination to do so. That was my experience. The drinkers I met were my friends. I met them almost everyday at their homes, at parties and at sports gatherings. Especially when the drinks are free at those sports gatherings, friends were bound to pour me drinks, urging me to bottom up. Upon my waving the drink away, they would insist, demanding that I join them as they knew I could drink. Eventually, there was no alternative but to accept that glass of cool beer but put it aside as soon as their attention was drawn away by someone else. This process of 'letting your friends down' had to be repeated numerous times for a number of months before everyone finally realised that this guy had changed 'beyong redemption'. They eventually understood that there was nothing they could do to rehabilitate this guy back into the drinking club. It certainly was difficult and it took quite a while for the message to sink in.

Looking back, it is no wonder drug addicts and drinkers or smokers find it difficult to stop or change, especially when the other members of the addiction are very close and still around almost everyday. The person who wishes to change is one against many. His/Her change is easily outvoted. Without sufficient determination, a weakness of the ego would have blown down all the bridges to change.

However, determination boosted by knowledge of the problems that could possibly crop up in later years can strengthen our resolve to do the right thing.

That is why I have often told my friends, a visit to see the fate that awaits drug addicts and drinkers in hospitals or rehabilitation centers can be profitable to our young children, to open their eyes to the horrible realities of the kind of life that awaits such addiction. As for gambling and smoking, read and expose to our young the news about those people's plight whenever it appears in our news media. Let them know what can possibly happen so that they can make intelligent choices based on true knowledge in life.

Everything in this world is the parents' audio-visual aids. Use it for the benefit of our beloved children.