Life on life's terms
This concept is something I've struggled with for most of my adult life. Anytime something happened that didn't suit me was an excuse to drink. Or alternatively, if something good happened, I wanted to enhance the experience (celebrate) with alcohol. Any reason to drink.
What is 'life's terms'? In my experience, it means:
- that people will do you wrong/let you down
- that things aren't going to always go your way
- that everything is not a reason to celebrate
- you can't change the past
There's probably more but those just immediately come to mind. Life on life's terms means handling all this without picking up a drink.
Personally, I grew up surrounded by what I consider 'bad' people. The kind of bad people who purport to be 'good', the worst kind. Your con men or charlatons, if you will. The kind of people that smooze you to get you in their good graces and wham do you wrong. I started drinking at 15 to cope with this.
Sobering up as an adult, I realize these people haven't changed. They still think they can get over on me.
Anyway, sorry for the vent. Hiwever, this scenario is unfortunate but part of 'life on life's terms'. It's accepting it and learning to play the hand I was dealt. In my younger days I would have thought "This isn't fair!" and gone and gotten drunk.
Many have it worse than me. I just wanted to express this. What does this phrase mean to you?