Halsoft wrote:Again, there are so many previous posts on this but I feel its important for me to weigh in on this. Sorry for not taking the time to read all of the previous posts on this but I'm trying to get a general feel for the kinds of things that appear on this site. As a drug addict/alcoholic, I make an important point to give money to any homeless person I come across. I justify it in multiple ways to myself. Its my way of giving back when I can't return the money to the people who had given to me in the depths of my addiction. Absent that its not my responsibility once the money has left my wallet. Its literally out of my hands. I expect nothing in return from these people, so it is a way for me to be altruistic. I make a point to let them know I was also in there shoes and that there is a way out. If they use the money to buy drugs and alcohol it is a brief respite to the things they are dealing with while sober. It may eventually lead to them seeking God in a way they hadn't before. I know that it did for me.
That post moved me Hal.
I have never been homeless (thank God) but I do struggle with alcohol. I won`t bore you with all the details (if you are interested most f my struggles are posted in my thread My Journey) so to read of someone who has/had the same struggles and is obviously turning their life around brings me comfort, and hope.
I`ve been thinking for a while about volunteering at a homeless shelter, as a way of giving something, and maybe as a way of seeing my problems from a different point of view. I want to, but, I know, through research, that it would be heartbreaking, there would be failures, I would be among people at their lowest and if I`m honest I don`t know if I could handle it.
I had depression for seven years, that was very late in getting diagnosed, so I have personal experience of what some may be going through but I don`t know if that`s enough, y`know?
I want to help but this kind of thing may not be the way. I think it takes a special type of person to do that and I`m not sure if I`m that person. Maybe my path is a different one.