James’ Dependency on Alcohol and Drugs

“James” came in today to ask for some personal hygiene items, and we wound up sitting in my office and chatting for a while.  James has been a guest of the soup kitchen for several years, but now he comes just off and on.  He is trying to work his way out of a dependency on alcohol and drugs, but admits that it’s not as easy as he’d hope.  His girl friend is very much into crack and heroin, and looking at her, he admits that he wants out of it.  He said, “You can get all the help you want, all the books, the meetings, the detox, the treatment, etc., but if you don’t want it badly enough inside of yourself, you won’t get anywhere.”  He left saying, “Thanks for just listening to me.” - Br. Bob