THE “HAPPY” DRUG

Hello everyone, today I want to talk about the “Happy Drug”. In this context, I will be talking about the extreme/risky stunts people do to find happiness. I know there is a saying that you should live your life like it is your last but have you ever stop to think about the choices that you make? Some people live life carelessly all because they want to be “happy”. To find happiness, they resort to doing unfathomable things to themselves and in this piece, I‘ll be talking about some of the stunts people pull to make themselves happy. But before I begin, I want to talk about my definition of the word “Happy”. According to me, it is just a feeling of freedom and whatever makes you smile. The feeling of freedom is just like the song HAPPY by Pharrell “feeling like a room without a roof”.

One of the wrong means by which some people find happiness is, making other people miserable. This is seen in bullies. Bullies think that they can find happiness by bringing other people down by pumping negativity and self-disgusting words to other people. They also go as far as killing or taking what makes that other person happy because when they do that, they have a feeling of power over that individual. To all you bullies out there who take pleasure in making other people miserable, I humbly suggest that you get a reality check; because the person you bully today will become your boss tomorrow. If you feel that you will lose your “street rep”/coolness, ask yourself this question, where do you see yourself in the next ten years? Do you see yourself as a happy man? Or a bored/depressed human being who is angry at the world because you feel the universe owes you a favour? Do you want to be respected or feared? The choice is yours. For my next piece, I will be talking about the thin line between fear and respect in the “Thin Line” series.

Another means of finding fake happiness is over-indulgence in drugs. These days, hard drugs like cocaine and heroin are used by the “upper echelon” of drug users because they are expensive for normal people to afford. These days, prescription drugs are mixed together to get the same effect as cocaine and heroin. I served as a Corper (NYSC) in Gombe State Nigeria, and I was assigned to Balanga Local Government. Over there, I experienced things I never know about hard drugs. They would mix Coca Cola (Coke Soda) with cough medicine. Neighbourhood boys knew the name of prescription drugs like Tramadol which is supposed to be a powerful pain killer which is equivalent to Morphine. These drugs are taken beyond the normal dosage and the effects are the same as cocaine. The problem with these drugs (expensive and cheap) is the fact that these drugs take a toll on your kidneys and other internal organs. Sometimes I ask people, haven’t you heard of ORGAN FAILURE?!? In the aspect of alcohol consumption, please go to my previous article on ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.

There are other means by which people seek to be happy but I will be stopping with these two examples that I have provided above. To find true happiness, take a bible, locate and read the scripture Philippians 4:8. It reads “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; of there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (KJV).

From the above scripture, we can see that if you want to be happy, you should think on things that are good in spite of the seemingly bad situation you are in. Please do not give in to the poison of depression which gives birth to resentment and self pity. And the only way you feel you can relief will be to make other people feel bad or look for someone who you think is not up to your standards to bring he or she down. But that is not the answer. Count your blessings because what you feel is a problem, someone else has a bigger problem than yours. Do not resort to take the DEPRESSION PILL to get better. You may feel better by taking your anger out on other people but you are only setting yourself for failure.

Depression can be related to having a broken bone. Instead of resorting to orthodox treatment and allowing the bone to heal, (counting your blessings and giving time for your heart to heal), you anesthetize the injury by dulling the pain using hard drugs (taking your anger out on the world and making other people miserable to make yourself happy). The thing is, anesthetizing the injury may dull the pain but it does not last long. The pain will come back with such force that it will daze you senseless.

So please be patient with yourself and count your blessings everyday and look for other new (good) things to add to what will make you happy. As long as you are alive, there is always something to dazzle your imagination.

LIVE LONG AND EXCEL

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E-mail: johnnyogah2000@gmail.com