The World's Greatest Drug.

A “drug” is identified as, “any substance that, when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed, absorbed via a patch on the skin, or dissolved under the tongue causes a temporary physiological change in the body.” A Wikipedia reference, for I have my own opinions as to how the confines of definition discounts many other more potent agonists of chemical release. 

Drugs get a bad rap overall. They are painted as either lacing the street corner with poverty and bad decisions, or the corrupt doctor that over prescribes to subdue over-whiny patients. Yet, they can be Great again, as they once were. We must remember that over exposure and over reliance on things tends to corrupt their appeal, when in reality, they are very much necessary. After all, the same drugs that one can abuse in a basement one can get in a hospital to help tolerate pain or allow a delicate surgical procedure to occur without interference. Other drugs relax and calm when otherwise the sufferer might react and harm. 

Due to the chemicals that drugs spur on, there are other, non-categorized forms of drugs that enrich, that’s right enrich, our lives every day. These drugs are people, or more specifically, the chemical release that people induce in one another. Take love for instance, love can be the de-romanticized chemical release of oxytocin. The various other experiences of lust, companionship, desire, dependency, all have their own set of primary neurotransmitters that do their job in various ways and various forms to produce what results as human emotions. So, to take this concept a little further, the interactions amongst ourselves can really be the GREATEST drug out there. 

Go ahead and denounce the post if you want, but a perspective shift may just help those who struggle with basic human interactions and emotional regulation like I do at times. After all, knowledge doesn’t seem to be effective enough, due to overriding emotions. Our own minds cannot be trusted because we overreact to hurt or pain, a biological response initially. We feel inconvenienced when we hold an expectation of being left alone and someone interferes. A common thought of mine was, “Why can’t they just leave me alone?” Though without actually saying the words I held an expectation that others should read my mind and respectably leave me alone, until I wanted to talk, in which case it was then OK. Selfish, to say the least, but a release of neurotransmitters based on past experiences, inadequacies, current events, hundreds of thousands of factors, driving the force. 

Instead of perceiving what was done wrong to me, I can see what was done right. That’s right, a basic-level perspective shift on the glass being half-full. Now, this one to me is a bit different. Basically, I see a disconnect with superficial and authentic. I can understand how one leads into the others, but for me, a superficial, “do better,” doesn’t work very well. So, what I like to see is that people inconvenience my expectations of life through their interactions with me, yes. Also, their interactions with me, force me to learn how to tolerate, and even to appreciate, unless I want to live in a suffering state of resentment for a perspective of them taking and me giving. You see, I am not merely doing, but I am changing what I see interactions as. I am not just smiling inauthentically, but I am finding a reason to smile. For example, I am working on finishing up some notes at work, when a coworker from another floor stops by and starts to discuss a case. I have the option to begrudgingly turn slightly from the computer screen and nod to make it through the situation, because after all, she is interrupting me and I feel entitled to complete the work as I see fit, or I can engage in a full-on conversation regarding what this person believed to be true. Now, the only way to do this is to actually care. 

Humans are the greatest drug out there because they provide the greatest amount of stimulation, the most long lasting, and also, the most pain. People hurt, love, care, depend, covet, envy, each other and all of these emotions cause a strong chemical release. A release that will drive us to insanity, or actions that our rational mind would have never thought possible. People are our greatest drug and by engaging, even in a seemingly negative situation, you are injecting a little bit of that drug and building on a foundation for further release of drugs by altering perspectives for the future. That’s right. Humans are the drugs that keep on giving because not only are they here and now, but they repave a road for the future that keeps life interesting and to a certain point, evolving. 

Even a person who gets robbed feels a strong release of emotion, and may even appreciate life more after the incident than before. The pain a robbery causes can actually do more good in the long-term, than a person providing a compliment now. 

Now, this only makes sense if you choose to see any emotion as an addition versus a detriment. After all, an emotion provoked, any emotion is in addition to, versus a detriment which would be feeling no emotion. A personal hell for those who experience it, it’s called anhedonia. 

So, you tell me what the GREATEST drug on the planet it, and I argue you to seek any further than your next door neighbor, that person you love, or the person you hate. All interactions spur a chemical that you can choose to see the benefit in it, yes even the “negative”. This is undoubtedly more potent and long-lasting with life-altering affects than any external chemical could ever antagonize. 

May I suggest that the next time someone inconveniences you, that you look to see what qualities of the person you do enjoy, or the parts you want to enhance and see the interaction as a forced opportunity to engage these new behaviors. We can talk about them all we want, but the first time you actually have to use them, you may find it more difficult than you thought. I like the surprise interactions, or at least I am learning to, because they get me to use the skills I otherwise would never engage through avoiding pain, per the human condition. Also, they catch me off-guard and therefore my superficial takes a backseat and I have no other choice but to be authentic. Like fear provokes true feelings of another. Anger does too. Remember this the next time you get cut off in traffic and feel that quick burst of rage, you can actually see the benefit in this with enough practice.   

Other drugs have their appeal, despite their superficial in nature distraction to more authentic parts of ourselves. Click Here, for an inside look to destructive thinking 101.