Sitting alone at the bar, I ordered a stiff drink to numb the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. The bartender poured the amber liquid into a glass, the ice cubes clinking as they hit the sides. I raised the glass to my lips, the sharp scent of alcohol hitting me before the liquid burned its way down my throat.
Each gulp brought a sense of temporary relief, the alcohol coating my insides and blurring the edges of my thoughts. The bitter taste reminded me of the bitterness in my heart, the drink becoming a temporary escape from reality.
As I sat there, lost in my own thoughts, the weight of my problems seemed to momentarily lift as the alcohol numbed my senses. The world outside the bar seemed distant and unimportant, the only thing that mattered was the glass in front of me.
But as the last drop disappeared, the reality of my problems came crashing back in full force. I pushed the glass away, knowing that the temporary relief was just that – temporary. I may have needed a stiff drink to get through the moment, but I knew that true healing would come from facing my problems head-on, without the aid of alcohol.
Image by philipbouchard from Flickr.
