Mozz: bottle of what?
Noname: gin
Mozz: how many have bottles have you drunk already?
Noname: 2
Mozz: sheez…that’s a lot…are you trying to set a record or something?
Noname: nah I just want to make everything go away
Mozz: why do you want everything to go away?
Noname: because life sux
Noname: nothing seems to work out for me
Mozz: you sound down, but for someone who has drunk 2 bottles of gin, you seem really cohesive
Noname: yeah, well I have a lot of practise, I have been drinking a lot for a long time now
Mozz: how do you feel if you don’t drink?
Noname: can’t remember…I’ve been drinking like this for 3 years now
Mozz: I am sorry to hear that you feel that life sux… is there nothing in your life that is good?
Noname: I have some friends that don’t suck, I mean, they seem to care about me
Mozz: how do your friends feel about you drinking all the time?
Noname: they’re used to it… once when I drank so much I passed out, one of my friends took me to the hospital and I had my stomach pumped
Mozz: ouch! But good that your friend looked out for you
Noname: the hospital made me go to rehab
Mozz: can I ask you how old you are?
Noname: 23
Mozz: I see, did the rehab help?
Noname: well, I felt pretty good when I got out, but I started to drink again after a month
Mozz: why did you start again?
Noname: because that's what I do
Mozz: would you like to quit drinking?
Noname: sometimes.....
Mozz: why did you start to drink in the first place?
Noname: because life hurts...and when you're drunk you don't feel it
Mozz: that may be true, but being drunk also prevents us from feeling all the good things that life has to offer
This is a snippet of a long conversation I had in a chatroom with a young guy in the UK. (Not the actual conversation, just an interpretation) It was probably one of the most confrontational and difficult conversations I have ever had with someone..... To cut a long story short: while we were speaking he kept on drinking until eventually he disconnected. But before he did, we had had a brief conversation about art and I gave him the address to this blog. (The state he was in, I had very little confidence in that he managed to write it down.)
I couldn't stop thinking about the young lad, so a week later I went back to the chatroom I had met him in. I had only just logged in when one of my friends in the chatroom pinged me.
"Did you have a long conversation with Noname last week?" she asked.
"Yes, I did", I answered.
"Well, Noname is a close friend of mine, so can I tell you something in confidence? she continued.
The chatroom has a facility where people can speak one-on-one, so we moved our conversation into PM (=private message)
"A friend and I, went to visit Noname last week and found him comatose on the floor in his flat. We phoned an ambulance and they rushed him to the emergency barely alive. It was awful, he nearly died and I was so scared for him...anyway, they pumped his stomach and eventually he came to. He has done this before and sometimes he has just walked out of the hospital, but this time, they said he had to do three months rehab." My friend seemed very upset as she recalled the event from her memory.
"How is he doing now?" I asked.
"That's why I wanted to talk to you," she carried on " did you give Noname the address to your blog?"
"Why do you ask?" I asked perplexed and a little worried.
"Well, when I visited Noname yesterday, he told me about his conversation with you and that you gave him the address to your blog."
I was stunned...copious amounts of gin and Noname still managed to write down the address to my blog?.....I was impressed.
"Anyway," she continued, "he told me that he has been reading your blog and it has been helping him to think differently about some things in his life."
"Really, wow......that makes me very happy to hear, because I have been really worried about him, actually, I too feared for his life," I responded.
"He still has to do the rehab, but this time, he sounds as if he wants to do it, which makes me very happy for him and has renewed my hope." Wrote my friend and added a smiley face.
I never spoke with Noname again, but the last time I spoke with my friend, she told me that he was doing okay.
I have told you this story because the events as they unfolded, reaffirmed for me and hopefully for you as well, how important words that convey a positive message are.
It is my belief that kind words or gestures, or words of a life affirming and positive nature, are never wasted. A single line can change a life: I believe in you...... I hear you..... I see you.....I am here for you....You can do it..... Don't give up.....Keep on trying.....You are not alone...You matter...
"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you will start having positive results."
(Willie Nelson)
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