Let me introduce you to Nic Vujicic. Please don’t ask me to pronounce his last name. It’s hard enough to spell correctly when you are surrounded by Browns and Greens and an occasional Smith or two.
But this guy is one of the most inspirational human beings that I know.
He struggled to face life’s challenges but not like the rest of us. Some struggle to get up in the morning with a good attitude. He struggled just to get up and understandably so … he was born without arms or legs.
As a child he learned to participate wherever he could in ways that defied his disability. Nic was suicidal for a period of years, mad at God and life in general.
I need people like Nic … they keep me from whining and remind me that I have so much to be grateful for. And they challenge me to dig deeper, to aim higher, to ditch my excuses.
There are people who have all their arms and legs who live as though they don’t. When the quadriplegic paints with his teeth, we are inspired. When someone fully functional chooses this method, we wonder why.
This is the adult child of an alcoholic.
They have learned unhealthy ways of coping with life in a home impaired by someone’s addiction issues. It’s tragic, not inspirational. They have the capacity to live life differently but they function as though they are missing limbs
This is really a post about Al-anon or ACA, Adult Children of Alcoholics. I learned to cope with alcoholism in my family. What worked in that environment set me at a disadvantage in life. I functioned but not as I might have if I had been able to see what I was really doing. I discovered the truth in an ACA meeting in the Moncton Hospital in the mid 90’s.
Today, on Grand Manan families and friends of alcoholics suffer for someone else’s refusal to admit they have a problem and to seek help. That’s on them but it’s also on us. Alcoholism is a family and in turn a community illness. We must own this regardless. Like the alcoholic, we too are powerless over alcohol.
The sooner we come to this admission, the sooner we will find our arms and legs and a life that changes when we stop coping and start living.
Help Me Grand Manan! 