SHIRTLESS IN THE COLD ?

by Kevin Thomas (ikevinthomas.com)

Obvious Signs of Intoxication?

Do your actions indicate that you’re intoxicated by the toxins of mistreatment?  As previously mentioned, it might not be your fault, but it is your responsibility to get better.  You won’t get better until you first acknowledge that something is wrong.  Your behavior (or better, misbehavior) is the chief indicator that toxins exist in you.  I don’t drink alcohol, but if I were intoxicated the alcohol in my system would affect my walk and talk.

Ice Cold Stadium
I’m a big sports fan and watch the games on television.  I’ve seen guys paint their upper body and take their shirts off in the bitter cold to cheer on their favorite team.  When I was a kid I wondered how they tolerated the cold.  When I went to college, I was “privileged” to sit near such fanatics one season.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out how these painted fans endured the cold.  They were tanked, blitzed, bombed… you know, drunk.

The Secret Antifreeze
Before the game they loaded up on alcohol.  The alcohol in their system raised their body temperature and perhaps dulled their senses.  As a result, during the game they could easily behave in ways that fans who hadn’t drank any alcohol couldn’t.  But as the game wore on and the effects of the alcohol wore off they struggled to keep their body temperatures up.  Sometimes they left the stadium early.  Sometimes they put on their coats.  Sometimes they pulled out a flask full of alcohol that they snuck into the stadium and drank more to keep their buzz going and raise their body temperatures.

• Intoxicate – to poison; to stimulate or stupefy with alcohol

Alcohol is a toxin.  That’s right!  It’s poison.  Although I’m not talking about alcohol abuse, alcoholic drinks are merely flavored doses of diluted poison.  Thus, we have words like “intoxication” and “intoxicated” to describe the altered condition of those who have alcohol in their systems.  (Do you notice the word “toxic” buried inside these words?)  Those sports fanatics voluntarily intoxicated, or better poisoned, themselves with full intentions of changing their behavior.

It’s bizarre behavior to sit outside in freezing temperatures with no clothes on your upper body.  I’m not talking about every unclothed fanatic, just the few who sat near me.  The toxins in their systems allowed them to behave abnormally.  The limits of pain their bodies could take from the cold were distorted due to the toxic properties floating through their bloodstreams.  As the toxins metabolized and burned out of their systems, their natural and automatic urge was to return to normal behavior.

GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What’s the root word of intoxication? 
   
2. Do you believe a person’s natural and automatic urges return to normal behavior as the toxins of alcoholic beverages metabolize and burn out of a person’s system?
3. What are the signs of an intoxicated person by alcohol?
4. What are the signs of a soul intoxicated (personality) by emotional pain and bitterness?
5. Do you believe a person’s natural and automatic urges return to normal behavior as emotional toxins are purged from their soul (mind, will, emotions)?