[prej-uh-dis]

Growing up my parents always stressed the importance of living a clean and healthy lifestyle namely by avoiding the abuse of drugs and any other substances. They would constantly remind me every single day of the dangers drugs and vices can impose. For instance, whenever we would walk pass a homeless person on the street my mom would point out and say, “See, that’s what happens when you do drugs; you end up not finishing school and you become homeless. 

I took this knowledge very seriously, lived my life and based my morals in accordance to their teachings and guidance. To be honest I was really scared to drugs. I developed hatred towards drugs and those who used them because my parents would tell me to stay away from these types of people. 

Entering middle school we were educated on the dangers of consuming alcohol and the use of this new type of drug called marijuana. Again, I was scared of any future encounter with these drugs and I tried to avoid anyone who used them. I was trapped in this cave or this idea that anyone who drank alcohol or smoked weed was a bad person.  My parents were the guards because they were the ones enforcing the idea and feeding me this general knowledge. They greatly frowned upon anyone who did such things and encouraged me to find friends who were not into these types of things. I grew up believing that most of the people in this world followed the same sort of morals that my parents taught me. However, in reality most people actually enjoyed drinking alcohol and smoking. What I didn’t realize was that even though a person may drink or smoke a few times that it doesn’t entirely make them a bad person. 

I had a friend back when I was a freshman in high school. He was actually my best friend at the time, however my parents did not approve of him. What I saw was a very friendly, funny, and outgoing guy but what my parents saw in him was completely opposite. They would always tell me that he was a bad guy who does “this” and “that” and I didn’t listen to them because he was my closest friend. The thing is that I never knew he smoked. The instant I found out I began to have some insecurities about our friendship. Relating back to what my parents had taught me when I was a child I told myself, “Wow, this guy is bad because smokes.” I later convinced myself that we could no longer be friends based on my parents’ teachings and I totally ignored his very existence. 

It was after graduation that I finally had escaped this cave. I slowly realized that I shouldn’t judge anyone just because they may partake in any of these activities. It was actually my girlfriend who helped me to understand and realize that just because people do these things that it doesn’t automatically justify that they are bad. Just because they were curious and wanted to try it once doesn’t make them bad people. How can you judge someone you barely know or judge someone if you’ve never even put yourself in their shoes? At that moment my eyes had fully adjusted to the light. I found out that what my parents had taught me wasn’t the entire truth. Yes drugs can destroy your body, but if I were to avoid and judged every single person that had ever smoked or drank then I would not have any friends at all.