Being contrary for a good portion of my life has often cost me dearly. I can think of only one instance in my life when being contrary has paid a dividend: my resistance to ever getting involved with drugs - any drugs.
I realize many people besides myself have resisted drugs so calling this decision contrary might seem ill-named. But during the impressionable years of my late adolescence and then into college & young adulthood, drugs played an outsize role in the musical culture surrounding me. Nearly all my important relationships were with other musicians - drugs were everywhere. Although during those years I had the de rigeur look of a musician (no contrary impulses there), somehow the drugs never enticed me. To this day, I can offer no reasonable explanation for my resistance aside from being contrary. Still, I remain grateful I did resist.
When in your life did you swim against the current? How do you explain your resistance? What is your present day perspective on that resistance - grateful? regretful? proud? confused?
No comments:
Post a Comment