Nagaland the land of festivals and celebrations offers to each of us opportunities to celebrate life with its natural beauty and bounty. The resources are plentiful in every aspect of life and most of us celebrate life meaningfully while some of us have become victims of failures and misfortunes of sicknesses and addictions. The theme for this year’s “International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” is “Think Health … Not Drugs” is another invitation to retrospect our lifestyle and see in what way we could celebrate our life and our festivals meaningfully.
There is a saying that ‘Health is Wealth’. Most of us think health means the ‘physical condition of the body’ without any sickness or disease. But health denotes a holistic well being which is physical, psychological, social and spiritual. According to Williams “Health is that quality of life which enables the individual to live most and serve best”. Mental health is the psychological well being of an individual. As we care for the physical well being we need to care for the mental well being too.
Substance abuse is not alien to us any longer. We have our siblings, friends and known people who have fallen into it and not able to overcome their behaviour and some of us have lost our beloved ones to this menace. At this juncture I would like to bring to our attention that it is time for each one of us takes an oath to ourselves to contain this epidemic. The Newspapers and researches show that Nagaland has become a place of transit for the illegal transaction of drugs in different forms. This poses a threat to the health of our young people. We can not close our eyes and say that it is not happening to me or to my family. It is there in the midst of us whether we like it or not.
The theme of this year offers to all of us an opportunity to develop new attitude towards life. We are all called to promote life. How can we promote life?
1. Purposeful Living: In our earnest desire to live a meaningful life we fall short of many requirements. If we can look at life positively and take the existing resources as God’s gift and use them for a constructive lifestyle then our lives can become meaningful and purposeful. Our worth is measured not so much by what we have but by what we are. Both ‘having and being’ are important needs of all of us. Being is what we are in terms of the inner relationship we have established with ourselves, with our fellow human beings and with our destinies. It is what we are in terms of the values we live by and the conclusion we accept to the meaning and purpose of our lives.
2. Developing Skills: We need to develop skills that can enable us to withstand the pressures of life. Our young people have to be taught on skills like ‘Assertiveness’, ‘Learning to say No’, ‘Accepting Criticism and failures’ and other soft skills. If we don’t have self confidence in our looks and personality we tend to become over-conscious of our dress and behaviour. But if we can develop comfortable feeling about our looks and personality we can develop a magnetic personality.
3. Developing Personality: We are all born with our own temperament traits that develop our personality. Every one of us desires to have a magnetic personality. Some of us are fortunate to have them abundantly while others have to develop them through conscious learning. Change is an integral part of our life and so we can keep learning new skills, develop healthy attitudes and shine in our relationships that can become the pearls of our personality. Most of us make a special effort to dress to attract attention and public approval then why not develop a pleasing personality that can attract people and make life happy. We need to empower ourselves with good values and attitudes.
4. Family: Family as the cradle of one’s life and relationship has become a place of conflict and confusion. Most of our parents spend hours in learning various skills that can increase wealth and economy, but when it comes to family life we refuse to train. Parents have to play a vital role in the development of their children and their personality. Human thirst for joy and happiness grows day by day. But we tend to forget that this can only come from healthy and happy families. Parenting is not merely the transmission of information, knowledge and values; it is rather developing their abilities to understand themselves and the society in which we live. So parenting can be defined as education for human development which seeks to ensure that each individual is equipped with the knowledge and skill necessary for meeting the challenges of everyday life.
5. Environment: The influences of mass media and communication have greater influence on individuals today. Most of us spend long time in viewing television shows and imitate them unconsciously in our behaviour. Education, technical knowledge is no longer the factors in the achievements of academic and professional success. There are resources available in the internet in galore. These influence our young people who are enthusiastic in learning new things. It leads to substance abuse for those who can not cope with the demands of life. Creating conducive environment for the children is the task of the social leaders who govern the society. So illicit trafficking should be diligently handled by the law enforcing agencies and other social guardians of life to provide a clean environment for our kids.
6. Educational Institutions: Parents today are willing to do anything in order to give good education to their children. Schools and colleges with very high standard try to provide quality education, modern facilities that include human resources and material resources. The school curriculums with many subjects, which are not according to the choices of children, bring in a lack of interest for learning. They begin to develop deviant behaviour which is a mental health problem. Our educational institutions should not only provide quality education but develop all round personality and make them responsible citizens of our state. Prepare them to face the challenges of life like substance abuse and social issues.
7. Church: Church is the platform which can provide and promote health in many ways. All of us are affiliated to one church or other and we do listen to the message of our spiritual leaders. So the church could play a vital role in giving information on various health hazards and instruct them for a healthy life. Promoting health in a holistic manner could be done by the church for the good of the society. The church could be the catalyst of change that can promote health and life in its fullness. Jesus said ‘I have come that you may have life and life in its fullness’.
Developing healthy attitudes and atmosphere is the need of the hour. We need to develop skills like adaptability, self awareness, motivation, time management, effective communication, critical thinking and positive outlook on life. If we can empower ourselves with the above mentioned qualities, the modern day demands will not lead our people to depression and addiction but rather seek life that is healthy without drugs. Good health requires not only the well being of physical body but all aspects of life which includes mental health. It is a challenge for each one of us to live a healthy life; it may not be easy but it is worth the effort. Let us live healthy lives and not lives enslaved by substances that lead us to destruction and death. “We must be courageous but also reasonable. The world admires us for walking a tightrope without falling off. It takes us to keep our balance” says Lech Walesa.
Fr. Joe Mariadhas
Director Shalom Rehabilitation Centre
Chumukedima – 797103
This article is for the ‘International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking’ June 26.
