When Your Son or Daughter’s Addiction Doesn’t Make Any Sense, Use This Tip.

Your son or daughter’s addiction clobbered you over the head. It came out of left field. It doesn’t make any sense. You don’t understand.

If this is you, then you are in good company. Most parents agonize over their child’s addiction, trying desperately to understand how it happened. They spend countless hours wrestling with the question that will likely never had a solid answer,

“Why?”

I must have asked that question (often followed by “me” or “my daughter”) a thousand times. Jamie’s addiction never made any sense, considering her upbringing, influences, and who she was.

You are likely in a similar boat (one that is tossing you around in the ocean without a life raft).

We like having answers. It is one reason the internet has exploded. Do you remember when we had to go to a library or open an encyclopedia if we wanted answers? (For you younger folks, you will have to Google that word.) 😃

In today’s information age, we want instant knowledge and quick solutions. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to any of the questions surrounding addiction.

I never found out why Jamie left her safe, comfortable suburban life and entered a world far from the one we lived. She was the most gifted person I had ever met, so I couldn’t get my head wrapped around it. I needed to understand, but I never have. I am not sure Jamie fully grasped it herself.

I drove myself crazy, trying to crack the code. You are doing the same!

The road you are traveling is stressful enough without spending precious time focused on a mystery for which you have little chance of comprehending.

There are other circumstances beyond addiction that also have you equally puzzled. Life is full of things we cannot explain. For your son or daughter’s addiction and any other situation that has left you stumped, it is time to use this tip:

Start placing them in the Some Things Don’t Make Sense File.

I realize you would rather have answers, but nobody is going to satisfy your inquires, so let the “why” of all of this go. Even if you could somehow find the knowledge you seek, there would be nothing you could do to change the past. It wouldn’t make a difference.

Stop driving yourself nuts and file the addiction away in the Some Things Don’t Make Sense File.

Get on with the business of your recovery. Lead the way. Be the warrior that proves to your loved ones that it is possible to stand up in the darkness.

You are not alone. I am standing right there with you.