WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

I call this "Where do you live?" because I want you to think about the way you are living. There are lots of different lifestyles that we can have. Each of us can be wealthy or poor, live in a trailer or a mansion, share an apartment, live in a cardboard box, or whatever.

There was an attractive young lady that was going door-to-door in an apartment complex begging men for drinks. Usually she got the booze and if the guys gave her enough to get her drunk, she stayed the night. Humph, some trade! My thought here is that for very little, for practically nothing, we give up our integrity, our self-opinion, our sense of worth.

What I said to this girl changed her life. The exact thing I told her was that she did not have to live that way. You see, her parents were drinkers too and were her role models. She did not know that she had the power to change her life. There are many other people, who are so caught up in bad and or destructive lifestyles, they don't know that they can change their lives.

A few years later, I saw her and she told me that she had changed and that her life is better now. She had turned her life around because I didn't use her and because of what I said to her. (don't take me wrong though, I'm not a saint.) By the way, we each change the lives of others and frequently without even knowing it.

Here's my message to you. If you are living in a destructive situation, you do have the power to change it! It will not change by itself, unless it gets worse, because you aren't doing anything to help yourself.

Successful living is doing the things that make our lives better.

Depression will hinder you, but if you're really trying, your lot will be much better than if you are just being a victim. Your changes may have to include getting psychological help first. Some people fear psychologists and psychiatrists and medicines and hospitals, but some of us have been where you are and can tell you that we feel a lot better because we have gotten help. If you don't know where to get help, try your local doctor, community mental health center, crisis line, or a local emergency room. As to the expense, many of the American community health centers are funded by United Way, and will treat you free or for a nominal cost. Help is available if you want it.

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