This is AbovetheInfluence.com Podcast #6
Hi, this is Lisa and I’m here in Washington, DC. This week’s podcast is from Jen and she’s talking about consequences and what that could mean for your life. So listen up.
I’ve known a lot of people that have abused drugs or alcohol or who have smoked. Of course I’ve know a lot of people, my parents being two of those. In high school I had a lot of friends, like I said, I befriended a lot of people, I didn’t not hang out with people just because of what they did. I had a really great friend, and I still have, and she’s still a good friend, who smoked every day. She’d smoke marijuana everyday. It would get to the point where she would spend her last dollars, and this was her last dollars that she worked for and she needed. She spent it on pot. It started to really frighten me not only that she was doing it everyday and that she spent all of her money on it, but her personality was just drained. When I would hang out with her and she was doing it, it wasn’t any fun. They just don’t have anything to say that holds any merit or makes any sense. You’re sitting there and you’re trying to talk but you’re looking into their dead eyes and you don’t see your friend anymore, you see your friend wasting away.
So I try to tell people and her. If you’re going to keep doing this I don’t want to be around you, because I don’t want to be around that and I think it’s becoming a problem for you. And at first she felt like ‘no, I’m not a pothead, I don’t have a problem, there’s nothing wrong, I just do it because I want to take the edge off or whatever.’ And I said, ‘OK, but if you’re going to keep doing those things, I don’t need an extra thing pulling me down, I don’t want to be around that. I was around it enough growing up and I don’t want to be around it anymore. But she stopped. When you know you have a good friend that you might loose and who really cares about you, she stopped.
It’s a harsh reality but these things do happen and there are so many consequences that you don’t realize in the moment but when you wake up you realize, ‘Oh, there are consequences to what I did last night.’ Looking back now, there are boys and girls who are still in the town and who are still doing the same things who decided not to go to college, and that’s fine, but they could have gone further in their life but they chose to do something that held them back so much. Why do something that holds you back? They just get caught up and they can’t go the places the always wanted to.
In high school have as much fun as you can and enjoy it and think about what you consider fun. Don’t worry about the little things like what you wear and who you know are important, because they’re not. That’s easy for me to say right now but no one remembers those things and no one will remember if you’re the girl that said no. People might remember if you’re the girl everyone was carrying around at a party and laughing at.
But just seek out your passion. Try to learn what you like and what you’re good at when you find out those things more good things will happen and you’ll excel and you’ll get noticed for those good things. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s: academics, art, sports, books, even if it’s the card club. It’s getting into anything and learning what you can, and knowing there is no limit to what you can do and not forgetting that.
Hi, this is Lisa and I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, if you’re a senior this year, we’re looking for your stories and advice on dealing with pressure, so email us. You can do that by going to the Podcast section and telling us your story and what advice you have. Thanks again for listening.