Month: March 2017

“Eddie The Eagle”, An Inspiring Film About An Unlikely Hero Who Never Gave Up

There are plenty of movies I resist seeing in the theater and even for home viewing, simply because I don’t like any of the trailers I see for them. And even when I’ve gone against that notion, and chose to see the full feature anyway, I’ve usually ended up regretting it, but not so with a 2016 film titled “Eddie The Eagle”, which I recently caught on television at home.

“Eddie The Eagle” is the true story of Michael “Eddie” Edwards (played by Taron Egerton), a determined British ski jumper who defied all the odds and qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics. From an early age, Eddie’s only dream was to qualify for the Olympics, but due to a number of disadvantages that life dealt him from physical limitations to financial, it seemed as if Eddie’s dream was always beyond reach. But when he discovers his love of skiing and pursues it with all his might, he achieves local success, furthering his belief he’ll one day head to the Olympics. Yet even when he fails to make the competitive Olympic British team in 1988 for downhill skiing, he still doesn’t give up. That becomes overly evident when he learns there haven’t been any British ski jumpers since the 1920’s, as then he decides to quickly switch to the totally different winter event, convinced he will learn how to master the highly difficult sport all on his own and qualify for the Olympics there. And even through a number of setbacks and injuries, his determination eventually arouses the interest of a cantankerous coach named Bronson Peary (played by Hugh Jackman) enough to help him in his quest to become Olympic bound. In the end, it becomes apparent that Eddie is a man who never stopped believing in himself, even when so many counted him out, and becomes an unlikely hero in the process when he finally achieves his childhood dream.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I must admit I rolled my eyes and thought it looked kind of silly. And even after reading up on Eddie’s life on Wikipedia, I wasn’t motivated enough to head to the theater to see it. But zoom forward a year later when I noticed on one of those free premium channel weekends that my satellite company occasionally offers, that this movie was showing. I opted to record it to DVR mostly for my other half, as he had wanted to see it in the theater the prior year but never did. When we finally got around to watching it, I was less than enthused, half expecting myself to fall asleep during it. Yet, it was quite the opposite. Finding myself seeing some parallels to Eddie’s journey to the Olympics, to my own journey of self-healing, that many have often told me to give up on, just like they did Eddie, I actually found myself being pretty moved by the film. In a world where it’s rather easy to listen to others and give up on our dreams, our passions, and our goals, sometimes we have to look Higher and go deeper within, to channel enough energy that will help us defy the odds that so often seemed stacked against us. And that’s exactly what Eddie did in his own life, he never gave up and achieved his dream, which is precisely what I plan to keep doing and why I was so inspired by this film by the end.

I’m grateful for stories like Eddie The Eagle’s, because in a world where negativity seems to be abound these days all around me, it’s stories like his that truly help me to keep going and never give up on something I know I can achieve, God willing, just like Eddie did…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Thought For The Day

“What does an addict look like? Their whole life and thinking are centered around some type of substance, whether that’s a person, place, or thing. Their minds are primarily focused on getting it, using it, and finding ways and means to get more of it. They truly live their lives to use it and frankly, used to live life, but no longer do. Quite simply, they are any man or woman whose life is  controlled by this substance and are in the grips of a continuing and progressive illness whose end is always the same: jails, institutions, or death.” (Compiled From A Number Of Various Addiction Recovery Resources)

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

The Gross Misconceptions As To What An Addict Looks Like

When I used to think about what an alcoholic was prior to ever admitting to being one, I always envisioned the homeless people on the streets of New York City that I grew up near, who lived on top of sewer grates or under bridges, who smelled badly, who talked to themselves, and who constantly had some kind of bagged alcoholic beverage in hand. I eventually discovered that alcoholics come in many more varieties, once I had succumbed to the addiction pretty deeply myself.

I held similar misconceptions to what a sex or love addict was for the longest time as well. Way before I ever admitted to being one of those, I constantly envisioned them as those flashers who wore long coats and had nothing underneath them, or those XXX theaters goers that spent hours on end there, or those who went to rest areas for quick hook ups, or those who frequently cheated on their partners and couldn’t ever keep it in their pants, or those who preyed on innocent children. But little did I know that sex and love addicts came in plenty of other varieties too, some quite subtle in fact. And it wasn’t until this addiction had me in its icy grips that I ultimately realized that.

Unfortunately, it’s these types of judgments as to what an addict looks like that often keep people from getting the help they need. So, addicts, such the alcoholic who only drink once or twice a week, or the sex and love based one, who only look at porn for an hour each day, never even consider the notion they might have a problem. Yet if they were able to take a step outside themselves, they might see they actually have a dependency on those one or two days to drink or that one hour a day of porn.

Another harsh truth to this is that the people who often make these strong judgments as to what an addict looks like, strictly do so to prevent themselves from ever having to label themselves as one. Even worse, those strong judgments create such terrible stigmata in their mind, that the thought of ever being one creates terrible shame.

That’s why I never imagined my six pack of beer after work each day was a problem. And it’s also why I never thought my occasional phone and cybersex conversations or my falling for married or unavailable men was a problem either. Sadly, it took me years to make it into the rooms of recovery because of these erroneous judgments. It literally became a thing of utter disgust to even think about admitting I had either of these addictions, because of those gross judgments I had made as to what an addict looked like.

Nevertheless, it is said that one third of the children growing up right now in this world are going to succumb to one of these addictions at some point in their life. Thus, it’s my hope that in sharing about things like this, that maybe one of them may come across these words someday and realize addicts come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and various forms. And that the pictures that have often been painted of what they are supposed to look like aren’t necessarily true.

The reality is that there are far too many gross misconceptions out there as to what an addict looks like. Many never would have even guessed I was an alcoholic and a sex and love addict during all my active years in either addiction, yet I still was. That’s why I encourage everyone these days to throw away all those stereotypical images and preconceived notions as to what they think an addict looks like, because quite often they truly look just like you and me…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson