For Teens Who Need To Make A Choice

By: Mark M.

You were in your High School class today and I know what’s on your mind and the decision you need to make.

I know what you’re thinking because everyone has this same thought and needs to make the same decision at some time in his or her life. It is a very important question, one that could have life and death consequences.

Should you drink alcohol at the party this weekend? Or should you try “the drug”? After all, just about everybody you know is doing it, and seemingly without any serious problems. And to tell the truth, you would like to know what it feels like. “Just once, then I’ll know.”

You have seen all the films in class regarding alcohol and drug abuse. You have looked at the commercials on T.V. telling you to “just say NO.” Your parents have been telling you since you were a young child about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. You may have had a Police Officer come to your school to show you what these drugs look like, and to tell you to stay away from them. And all the things they told you are true.

But in a few days, you will be alone to make the decision for yourself. No films, no commercials, no parent, no cop. Just You!

Before you go, let me just tell you the Number 1 reason NOT to try a drink or a drug.

YOU MAY LIKE IT!

Yep, you whoever you are may like the feeling and effect of being high or drunk. Your brain may like it; your emotions may like it. You may like the way it makes you feel. You may fall in love with it. It may make you feel that good!

Now stay with me here!

That’s what drugs do; they make you feel different than you normally do. Put that with a teen that doesn’t feel good about themselves at that age anyway, and it is not a far stretch to see how you may actually like the way it makes you feel.

I know, because I was one who did. And because I liked it, I did it the next day and the next, and the next. And so will you. I know you don’t think it can happen that fast but it does…and it will.

I went from making the wrong decision one weekend to missing part of my teen years. I had only one thing in mind. To try to catch the feeling I had that first time. And it doesn’t happen! I needed to try different drugs, or drink more to get the same feeling. The good feeling I was seeking kept moving away from me so I needed to take more or take something different to catch up to it. The more drugs I did, the more it moved away from me. I began to chase my tail.

I began to do things I would never have thought I would ever do. The pain of living that way is indescribable. You will become friends with people that today scare you. You will lie and cheat and steal just to get more drugs or more alcohol. The things that interest you today like a hobby or sports or your family will be an after thought.

Trust me and trust the countless other people who have made the wrong choice. It’s just not worth it.

Oh, and those around you who seem to be doing drugs and drinking today for fun without any problems? Don’t they seem just a little bit different than they had been? Can’t you already tell that they are not what they were? And just watch them begin to chase their tails. They are different because you are on different paths. And theirs is a path to pain and sorrow.

So I ask you? What if you like it? Then what?

Do NOT take the chance of liking it! Do not even give your mind the reason to compel you…to do it again! If you find you didn’t like the feeling of being under the influence of a drug then there’s no reason to have tried it, and if YOU DO like it, what then? It doesn’t make sense to even try it!