This time through treatment I’ve only had issues, really, with one of my fellow addicts. Ironically that person is also the least humble of anyone here.
He’s always got to one up everyone. If you overdosed, he overdosed harder. If you drank your friends under the table, he’s drank for more. If you’ve been in a fight, he’s been in a bigger fight. If you’ve been in prison, he’s been in longer and had it harder. If you had “homies” to watch your back, he’s got more and tougher. If you sold “x” drugs, he’s sold more and in harsher conditions.
At this point I take his stories more as fiction or a drug induced memory/hallucination than fact. There are a lot of us who has noticed the same behavior from him and don’t want to be around him, which sucks in a way. For all his gloating and stories, at his core, he seems like a good guy, but his dick swinging and over-the-top bravado makes him annoying to be likeable.
I just keep remembering some words from a man I’ve got a lot of respect for. He puts life in the terms of a game. Winning or losing isn’t the point, overall, the real point of the game is to be invited back to play again. I don’t think his point is to lose on purpose, but in the case of my fellow addict mentioned above, be a bit humble.
Even if every story is true, he doesn’t need to brag about everything all the time. I need to remember this, stay humble, let go of my ego and get invited back to the next game. In this way, I’m welcomed “home.”