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A common question everybody seems to ask me is why should I stop drinking? Why does everyone talk about why don't I stop?

Well I would rather seem to think the answer to that is quiet simple. Why are they asking you and why does this irritate you so much that even as you order another drink without even noticing it, you keep going back to this issue?

Ask yourself what is really irritating you? is it not because deep down you think they might be right but you just don't want to think about it right now?

This reminds me of a friend I was talking to recently who asked me if I thought he drank too much. In reply I instead asked "what do you think?" to which he replied he drank because he had problems at home. 'What causes those problems?' I asked.

"I can't just cope with the old folks (parents)" was his instant reply. Why? I continued prodding. "Well you know..."

"No I don't know."

"The usual things man, come on you know what I am talking about."

No I don't," I calmly insisted "so why don't you tell me excatly what you are talking about?"

"Okay, they just bring me a lot of stress, that's why I took off from home and that's why I drink a lot!" he exclaimed defiantly as if daring me to contradict him.

"Were they stressing you before you drank?"

No But some time after I had started drinking is when all this stress started." I did not comment as my friend kept on talking. "In fact it was quite some time afterwards. Then they started saying I came home too late or why did I stay out for a night or two...they got worried and did not know whether I had been in an accident or arrested or even shot. Then that it seemed I just came home to sleep, shower and change and go out and I just seemed to be...drinking, or going to places where we just got drunk and partied..nothing else...that's about the time I took off because the nagging was too much. So if they hadn't brought all that stress down on me I would not have taken off and I would not be sitting here veryday drinking. So even if I do drink too much, it's their fault not mine."

This was a typical case of Inverted thinking. he was not drinking because 'his folk stressed him' His folks on the other hand 'stressed him' because of his drinkng.

David Ogot snr.
16th August 2001
NAIROBI