Where Childlike Innocence Was...

Childlike innocence. Is it not amazing how children are pleased with the simplest things in life? How the smallest things bring such joy and happiness. How a game of hide and seek with friends will bring huge smiles to their faces. Somehow, as the years go by we loose that joy, that happiness that we once found in the little things vanishes.
Years pass, and as our lives become busier, we soon forget the little things, those simple joys of life. Thus, we turn to other things. We begin looking for those pleasures that will make us feel as we once did. Though now those pleasures are not so simple, they come with a price.
Alcohol in particular has had an impact on my life, though not through personal experience. Having seen the effects it has upon those I love, many tears have been shed, through the pain and hurt that it has caused. Relationships have been broken and family ties tried.
Strength, love and friends are what it promises, an escape from the pain and worries of life. That is what we all want, right? We want to escape from the hard things. We want to forget them completely. Or for some it is merely a way of life, it is all they know. You do it to be cool, to be part of the ‘in crowd.’ Mainly, you want to feel that childlike innocence once again.
Does alcohol really make that happen? Yes, for the moment you forget the pain, you forget the hurt, but you also forget everything else. You forget what it is that you once stood for. Everything you once believed and thought was right has now been thrown out the window. What are you left with then?
When everything is said and done, what will you say to explain your actions? Why did you do the things you did? The things you do not even remember doing? How did it all start? It did not just happen. It started with one, one sip, one drink and one person wanting to be free. Wanting to live without a care in the world.
Am I saying that one drink is wrong? No, but where is one going to lead you? Do you have the self-control to stop yourself from going all the way? As a personal decision I have chosen not to even have that first sip. It has been offered and I have declined.
Why? Simply because I have see the pain and hurt that alcohol causes; I have witnessed the ones I love go through things they should never have had to. And I know if I take that first step there is no telling where it will lead. I do not know if I will be able to stop.
I thank God for His grace as He has kept me from not falling into alcohol or even having the desire for it. It is only through Him that I abstain from participating in alcohol related ‘pleasures’. His strength and love is all that I need. In Him I have that childlike innocence. What about you? Where is it that you go for strength, or for love?