We're all addicted to something, something that takes the pain away, right? Wouldn't it be nice to feel "comfortably numb" (yes, I snuck a Pink Floyd reference in there) when the evils, the insanity, and the corruption of the real world become too much to bear?

We all have that something that takes the pain away, that something that enables us to escape the real world for a bit. Some of us find this escape in a hobby, maybe it's sports, maybe it's art, or music, or cars, maybe we find it in people, our relationships with other individuals, maybe we find it in things that aren't so pink and fuzzy, maybe we find our escape at the bottom of a bottle of Jack, maybe we find it in drugs.

Whether the addiction is to alcohol, pain killers, cocaine, heroin, or whatever else, I need you, whoever is reading this, to know that addiction is real. It's an everyday battle for those who have it and for those who love someone who suffers from addiction. I'd like you to take a second right now and think of someone you may know who struggles with addiction, whether this person is yourself, your mother, your brother, sister, friend, father or lover. I'd like you to hold them in your heart, for forever really, but for the next few minutes especially, and hear me out.

While I'm not condoning drug abuse by any means, I do believe society, scratch that, the human race entirely, could show a hell of a lot more empathy and compassion for those who do suffer from addiction. We spend so much time looking down on and labeling addicts as scumbags, druggies, and losers that we don't even bother trying to pick these people back up. We just chuck them up as a lost cause and a burden to society, that is, until it affects someone we love.

I won't lie; I used to be very judgmental of addicts before I, myself, loved somebody who suffered from addiction. Addiction is scary, it's real, and it’s dark and enticing to those who've had a taste. I admire those who have conquered their addiction, I admire those who have beaten the odds, and I admire those who have tried, failed and tried again. I admire all the mothers who've hearts have been through hell and back over their child's addiction, I admire all the children whose hearts have been through hell and back over their parent’s addiction. It is not an easy thing to do, to love someone while watching them self-destruct. It is not easy to love someone who has such powerful and dark demons. It is hard, but it is courageous. I admire all those who stick by their loved ones side and fight for them, fight for them to overcome their demons, their dark sides, their addiction.

I've loved and will continue to love a few addicts in my twenty-three years of living so far. Some have been relatives that I have not known well, but I have watched their children, whom I know better, suffer from their addiction. One has been someone who has had my back since the day I was born, a few have been friends I've made along the way, some have been friends of friends, friends of family, family of friends, and even one, a former lover.

What I need from you, my reader, whether you suffer from addiction yourself or you love someone who does, what I need from you is to have hope, have faith, and most importantly, give love. Your heart may very well get broken, beaten, and shattered from time to time, but sometimes even though you may feel as if someone does not deserve your love anymore, that is almost always when they need it the most. If you take anything from this, let it be this, love people through their storms, one day the storm will finally pass and you will be able to enjoy the sunshine together, but for now, grab your rain boots and umbrella and fight like hell.