The Consequences of Believing That You Don't Need Anyone's Advice
It can cost you your marriage, your job, and even your life.
Have you ever had a friend you hold dear who never wants to take your advice?
This article is dedicated to my friend Diego who is now between life and death.
I met this funny boy during my homeless time. I gravitated toward him because we shared the same addictions; sometimes, we slept in the shelter and others under a bridge.
I got close to him because he was from my country, and we shared the same difficulties on the street. Many times, because we were drinking together, the ambulance took us to the hospital simultaneously.
But like everything in this life, nothing is eternal, not even the irresponsible partying on the streets as homeless addicts. Sooner or later, the bill will arrive, and the saddest thing is that we will probably have to pay for it with our health.
The experience of life is unique.
Many of us live it as if we were never going to get old, let alone it will never end. Depending on how we live it, that's how we will experience it.
Unfortunately, life is given to us without a manual. We learn to live it through pure experiences, whether good or bad, so that we will react to its consequences.
With the wear and tear of time badly living on the street as a homeless, our sanity began to collapse. We lost our balance, and our health began asking us for accounts, showing us the bill to pay.
I miraculously had the experience of reconsidering the way I was living and decided to change. I began to fight the addictions that had me numb and blind.
But my friend Diego could not reconsider in time, and his health began to collapse. He first lost his sugar balance, and diabetes began to steal parts of his body, firstly losing his leg.
In the photo above, he was already in a wheelchair. I tried to advise him to take care of himself now more than ever because, in that condition, it was easy to be disappointed by his whole situation—and to plunge fully into alcohol.
And it was precisely what happened.
If he had followed my example or listened to my advice, he would be very well off today. But from the beginning, he wanted to do things his way regardless of how difficult the battle against alcohol was.
And this is an excellent example of how two people with the same problem can end up with two different results.
You either win or lose the battle of the mind.
It is the same with addictions. Either you take the mentality of making war to win or lose it.
Sadly my friend Diego suffered a stroke and is now in the hospital. I have called the hospital and talked to him, but he is already losing his mind—His conversation no longer makes sense.
Due to my experience as a homeless addict and my total recovery, I feel in my soul trying to help those in that situation. But it breaks my heart to see how many lose the battle of addictions.
Many homeless people have crossed the line of being able to recover what little they have left of life, and others are dying in the streets for lack of self-control over addictive substances.
Thanks for reading, and take advice.
It could save your life.
If you know someone going through emotional problems who lacks control over addictive substances, that person may be on the brink of losing their home and falling into the abyss of homelessness and addictions. Please call a helpline.
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