See also: Why Alcoholics Hurt People & Why Addicts Can’t Stay Sober. 

     One of the many convenient delusions among addicts and alcoholics is that we somehow only hurt ourselves when we drink, so why doesn’t everybody just leave us alone? I personally don’t think alcoholics and drug addicts are really that stupid. I mean, yes we are definitely stupid, but not in that way.

     Drinking or using drugs is selfish in so many ways it hurts. Let’s just take it from the top…

     Drinking is literally selfish because we drink to make ourselves feel better. We drink for effect. That is selfish.

     Fine, but why are all of you people affected by my drinking? What if I’m just a nice, quiet drunk who hangs out in the house and plays solitaire over a fifth of vodka? The answer is because there are actually people out there who love us. Imagine that. Consider love. What is it? Why do we love others? Why do my parents love me? Why do I love my wife and son and dog? To be perfectly honest, I can’t pinpoint some exact reason why. It’s more of a feeling. I love someone because I care about them. I care about their well-being. Love is a feeling we have and we can’t simply turn it off. In fact, there’s not much we can do about it if we truly love someone.

     Therefore, every time an alcoholic drinks or a drug addict uses, we are hurting those who love us, even if they are never in the room. Why? Because anything we do to hurt ourselves hurts those who love us. Imagine for a second, your spouse or someone very close to you. Now, what if you came home one day to find them hammered and wallowing in a pit of despair? Or what if you came home one day to find them smoking crack and pimping themselves out for cash for more crack? Or what if you came home one day to find them cutting themselves with a razor blade? Yup, that’s right, it would break your heart. That’s why drinking is selfish. And by the way, that’s really the only reason anybody needs to stop… if reasons worked for addicts. Unfortunately they don’t.

     Lastly, some obstinate teenager or stubborn bastard might try to argue with me and say,

     “Okay, Charlie, what if there is no one in my life to hurt, huh? What if I live in a cave in the mountains and no one cares about me? Am I still hurting others then? Huh, Charlie? Answer that one, dumbass!”

     Gladly.

     First of all, you don’t live in a cave and there are people in your life, but let’s just use this ridiculous scenario for shits and giggles. Even if there is no one in the world who loves you or cares about you, drinking is still selfish and causes damage to others.

     Why? How? How could this possibly be?

     Because as a human being, I am responsible to act in a way that I would recommend for all others. By drinking or using drugs chronically, I am, in effect, saying that it’s okay to behave this way. What if everyone on earth was a raging alcoholic, a heroin addict, or a crackhead? What would our beautiful earth look like at that point? Exactly. We are responsible as human beings to do the right thing. We do damage whether we like it or not. We do damage whether we’re all alone doing nothing or whether we’re out in the world being an ass to everybody. If we have lost control, then every time we use, we hurt others.

     So, unfortunately for all of us knuckleheads, with all of our delusions, no matter how you slice it, using drugs is selfish.

God, please rid me of selfishness that I may better serve You and Others…