The Dilemma of the Third Drink…

So the very wise and successful La Detra White posed the question, “Does THE THIRD DRINK really change us ….. or in disguise does it bring out what indeed was always there?”  An enticing question, I’m sure you would agree.  I think I just heard Carrie Bradshaw saying it and the end of Sex and the City following her perpetual fight with “Big” who is now somehow connected to, The Good Wife.”  Being an expert in the delights of a good Cabernet, I will frame my answer around my beverage of choice.  If you are an avid wine drinker, and I say that to those wine drinkers who drink it simply for the pleasant purpose that God intended it (…He giveth wine that maketh glad the heart of man) and not necessarily to those in that sad, unfortunate class who drink it to mask their pain and misery in this life, then you will completely understand what I am about to say.  Usually the first glass of wine produces a sparkle on the inside that encourages us to talk and enjoy the people we are blessed to be with and in the reverie of those moments we gladly seek a second glass which seems to encourage more mutual sharing of fondness and kindness and love.  But what about that third glass?  Something odd seems to take place after that third glass, haven’t you noticed?  Somewhere hiding within that third glass is a truth serum.  We didn’t know it was in there as it was deftly hidden, but somehow it manages to emerge.  I’m not talking about that perennial sadness or the lament over lost dreams and opportunities.  I’m talking about that idealist that lives in all of us.  It’s that guy or gal in there that knows exactly what they want and in many cases knows exactly what needs to take place to get to that ideal state that he or she has been dreaming about.  But prior to that third partaking was simply lacking the juevos to say what they have needed to say all along.  That idealist, always lurking just below the surface, wants to share love and kindness; wants to help lift others up and wants to relieve at least a portion of the misery that has been allowed to live in those they care about the most.   He knows the love he has withheld and seeks to remedy it.  She knows her secret dreams and wants to share them with others without fear of ridicule and shame.  And to this point, the only thing that has withheld them from speaking has been fear.

Fear is a curious and deceptive animal.  It also seeks to lurk beneath our bold exteriors and convinces us that we cannot have our ideals.  It tells us lies and half-truths about the things we earnestly seek and after getting us to accept those lies, succeeds in silencing our most noble and God-like aspirations.  Fear is indeed our enemy and is always wrong in every category of our lives.

Back to our dilemma… what is it about that third drink that serves to loosen our tongues so adeptly?  Well that old, ancient beverage starts to lower those walls we have put up around our hearts and it no longer seems so unreasonable to say the things we have been thinking for a long time.  We can no longer contain that idealist and must give him or her voice to say what needs to be said.  Is it delusion?  Is it falsely heightened emotions?  I hope not.  (smile)  It is instead, “liquid courage!”  Lest you should stop reading now, the glorious point that shouldn’t be missed in this well-meaning diatribe (chuckle) is that those things we wanted to say were there all along and Ol’ Cab just brought em out!  (Thanks Ol’ Cab).  Now of course Ol’ Cab has a dark side, as anything does that is not enjoyed in moderation, in that by the fifth and sixth and ninth glass you are no longer an idealist but rather a drunk person seeking only some form of gratification!  LOL

So, “Does THE THIRD DRINK really change us ….. or in disguise does it bring out what indeed was always there?”

It brings out what was already there, my friend.  It brings out what has been there all along…

Make today a day when you speak for the idealist and don’t be satisfied with things the way they always have been…

Hey, just some good thoughts…  Check please!