I'll Do Anything... Except Quit

Let me come out and say this first, I am bald. I shave my head every day and actually enjoy the ritual, the clean fresh start it gives me in the morning is wonderful. Anyone that has heard me lecture on addiction knows that I am a firm believer in benign routines; they have a positive grounding effect on one’s life.

However, and this is a BIG however, Britney Spears shaving her head between abbreviated rehab visits was anything but benign. Yeah, I know this is old news but I wanted to use her actions as an example instead of just piling on during the feeding frenzy of last month. Hopefully Ms. Spears is doing well after a protracted stay in rehab and I wish her the best of luck. Now back to our story...

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Warning: The following is the opinion of a very opinionated (and experienced) alcoholic, what I say here does not carry any professional or medical weight and therefore is… most likely true.

During my quest for sobriety many years ago I hatched many a hair-brained plan to quit drinking. Most never really got past the description of “just plain stupid”. They all did have one thing in common however, none of them included actually quitting drinking. Whether it was quitting school to concentrate on sobriety or joining the Foreign Legion for a forced drought, none of my plans were really more than excuses to do anything… except really quit drinking.

One thing is for certain, you can fool yourself almost all of the time but an addiction will never fall for these tricks. IMHO, Brittney was doing this when she shaved her off her golden(?) locks. She was probably saying to herself, “I don’t need no stupid rehab! I am going to turn my life around, shave my head like I’m in boot camp, and tough this thing out until I come out sane and sober.” How did that work? Well twelve hours later she was assaulting a car with an umbrella so you do the math.

One thing is for sure, if I could say that shaving my head and beating up an Audi with rain gear were the dumbest things I had ever done, I would be one proud camper. The good news is that she eventually did go, and stay, in a rehab center. The moral of this story is that if you want to start upon the path to recovery, you have to stop drinking/using and get help. Sure you can do it on your own, but be rest assured that the majority who try to scheme their way out of an addiction own their own will be lucky to end up with only a bald head and a bent umbrella.