Only seconds to make a wrong choice
American indie alternative country rock band Susto lead singer, Justin Osborne, has a track Hard Drugs.
I am surprised some of the lyrics resonate with me: “Well I don’t care who is asking and you can tell ‘em the truth, I’ve had a long-time struggle with substance abuse.”
I don’t know why it strikes a chord because I have never had a problem with substance abuse unless you count salt water but in 45 years of surfing and 60 years on this planet, I have seen some of what substance abuse can do. Perhaps it is because I have an axe to grind against drugs and alcohol but that is another story.
It breaks my heart when I see young people playing close to the edge and just one or two missteps away from living their worst life, biggest nightmare or untimely death.
“And if you really think he loves you and you wanna go away, well, I want the best and I won’t make you stay” and ain’t this the truth that drugs or alcohol can trash relationships?
It is not like this has not been seen before. Substance abuse ruins communication, clarity, interaction, respect, and further stated, drugs kill dreams.
I am fortunate in a way that as a “laat lammetjie” my elder sister Liz introduced me to music at an early age. Thanks for that sis. She was a ‘60s/’70s girl and I quickly got to know the enormously talented Jimmy Hendricks and Janis Joplin had died young of drug overdoses.
Not that she was trying to warn, teach or direct me in any way but those were just the facts of the time and the idea lodged with me as a kid that drugs and alcohol are not great.
Born in ‘62, I just caught a whiff of the hippie era and it did not look like a smart way of life to me.
Susto continues “and you can tell me that he loves you, but I know it’s a lie, cause I have seen how he treats you and honey, I don’t wanna fight”.
Osborne sings with a credibility that makes me think he has been there before, particularly in the Paste Studios YouTube version of this song. The band is polished and an example of top tier music but the song is a tragic story.
The disappointment of lost love perhaps through own fault, wrong choice of a bad suitor from a lack of clear vision and thinking and exhaustion, not wanting to carry on after too much fighting. The right fight at the right time is important.
One wonders why this music is so dark but there again so is Leonard Cohen, so is Mack the Knife and also Peter Gabriel’s Mercy Street. That is art and, by extension, sometimes that is life too.
The reason I write about this is because matric exams are just drawing to a close and many youngsters are about to tear off on matric rage.
Heaven forbid, I do not want to hear about another young person’s funeral.
Via Christian Surfers I touch base with some pastoral work from time to time and it is a great joy when I see young talent hit their straps.
When Tom cracks a contest result, Barry shoots provincial colours, Richard runs that sub 20 he has been looking for or Dan cleans up his final exams and goes hiking in the garden route with his architect and computer science mates.
These are celebrations that I can buy into. A friend of mine has “LTD” as his acronym status on his WhatsApp profile. “Living the dream”. Not too long ago, I interviewed paddling star Jade Wilson and their family motto is “Hard work pays off”.
There are better ways to go about life, love, joy and success on this mortal coil than dabbling in drugs or getting lost on alcohol. It pleases me from time to time to share some sport psychology with young athletes.
The story is this: If you want cake, there are certain things you have got to do.
The right ingredients, in the right quantities, in the right method, baked for the right amount of time at the right temperature and you will get cake. Every Time. Bar Eskom.
But if you decide of your own volition to leave something out, change the recipe or add some very strange ingredients into the mix, your cake might be badly affected.
Vince Lombardi’s Winning is a Habit is etched into my being: “You don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all of the time.”
I am over-simplifying but alcohol and drugs are not a solution. Unless it is penicillin and your doctor has prescribed it for pneumonia, leave it alone.
It is a beautiful, big, blue-sky world out there and I wish all our matriculants and students a fantastic holiday, safe beaches, golden tans, epic memories and adventures, awesome friends and LTD. Amen!