What is fondling? It is your desire to do repeatedly something that you are fond of to the extent that your mind just cannot stop your action. In other words, your fondling is your addiction and bondage.
DRINKING
Alcohol drinking is common among teenagers; about 40 percent of high school teens drink alcohol due to social acceptance of drinking and the belief that alcohol can lower anxiety.
Alcohol is an intoxicating ingredient produced by the fermentation of yeast, sugars, and
starches found in drinks. Beer has 5 percent of alcohol; wine, made of
grapes, has 12 percent of alcohol; liquor, such as gin, vodka, and whiskey, has
about 40 percent of alcohol.
But alcohol has its many dangerous side
effects. It slows down the brain functions, leading to slurred speech, lack of
coordination between the body and the mind, unconsciousness, and temporary loss
of memory. In addition to brain and nerve damage, there are many health issues
of the heart and the liver related to alcohol drinking.
Social drinking may lead to binge drinking, which is drinking several times within 2 hours. Drinking only beer may progress to drinking wine or even liquor. The truth is that no amount of alcohol is safe or risk-free, and alcohol drinking is a progressive disorder that often leads to alcohol addiction and drug abuse over the long haul.
Freedom
As a teenager, you have the freedom to choose or not to choose social drinking as a platform for your interactions with others.
Not choosing it gives you the freedom to
use other platforms for your communication with others, such as actively involved through traditional sports,
afterschool clubs, and social excursions. Social media may or may not be an
ideal alternative.
If you choose to start drinking beer, you
must have the freedom to say “no” and not be pressured by others to start
drinking wine or liquor.
Bondage
Alcohol addiction will put you in the bondage of alcohol withdrawal symptoms—anxious, confused, depressed, fatigued, and shaking while not drinking alcohol.
Another bondage of alcohol addiction is
the shackle of drug abuse. Alcohol is very reactive with many drugs and
medications in that it can magnify or negate the medicinal effects on an
individual with alcohol addiction while taking those medications. So, drugs can
be abusive and destructive to an alcohol addict.
The way to turn bondage into freedom is to
stop consuming alcohol. It is never easy without medical and professional help.
But you have the freedom to free yourself from that bondage.
Smoking cigarette must be avoided because it contains nicotine, which damages the brain, leading to many health issues of the brain, the heart, and the liver later in life. Your brain, which continues to grow and develop up to around age 25, can be damaged by nicotine. The damage initially affects your learning with lack of attention and mood swings. Nicotine withdrawal—stopping smoking with symptoms of anxiety, depression, insomnia, irritability, and physical fatigue—often puts you back to smoking.
Nicotine is an addictive drug that
initially gives you excitement to “free” you from boredom and anxiety. Many
teenagers begin smoking cigarette out of curiosity, as well as having observed
many celebrities smoking on screen in old movies or even their family
members.
Now, it is not even “cool” to do
e-cigarette or vaping with its appealing flavors because they also contain
nicotine
Freedom
You have the freedom of choice to smoke or not to smoke.
If you are already a smoker, you still
have the freedom to quit smoking or continue to smoke.
But your freedom to smoke will inevitably
put you in bondage.
Bondage
Your bondage to all the physical, emotional, and mental damages of smoking may be lifelong.
The only way to turn the bondage into
freedom is to quit smoking. That requires physical, mental, and spiritual
efforts and perseverance.
CALMING
In your transition phase, many addictions, other than drinking and smoking, may crop up as your mind continues to grow and expand.
Addictions are distractions from focusing
on other more important things in life. These distractions can temporarily calm
you down, but they do not solve your problems. Addictions to calming yourself
can come in many different forms, including some of the following:
Eating: Foods give pleasures to the tongue. Over-indulgence in eating leads to obesity and other eating disorders.
Gambling: Winning satisfies the mental craving for success and self-confidence. Compulsive gambling is the source of many financial problems later in life.
Games: Video games can create “gaming disorder” with social anxiety, lack of motivation in life, and interpersonal conflicts in everyday life.
Networking: Internet obsession may lead you astray by directing to many platforms of misinformation and wrongdoings.
Freedom
You have the freedom to eat, to play video games, to go online, and to do just about anything in your daily life.
But you have only 24 hours a day, just
like everybody else. So, you must learn how to manage your time and not giving
yourself time stress. Good time management involves setting precedence
and priority over anything and everything you need to do.
Living is about doing—doing what
needs to be done, but not over-doing, which may, paradoxically, lead to
non-doing.
In your transition phase from adolescent to young adult, your knowledge
is essential to your doing. However, you must also understand the fact that
knowledge is infinite, and your capability to acquire your knowledge is
only limited. Your true wisdom is to apply your “limited” knowledge to see how
it works in your everyday life and living—that is, knowing what to do and doing
what you know.
So, spending too much time on anything
is not the way to go.
Bondage
Not knowing that “excess leads to depletion” is your vulnerability to bondage.
To free yourself from being trapped to any bondage, remember the golden mean: “more for less” and “less for more.”
FREEDOM with BONDAGE shows you how to free yourself from your bondage to the flesh that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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