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eww, that is horribly disguisting.

EDIT- Nevermind, I clicked the wrong link lol.. Downloading now, will look in to it when I get off work, thanks again grasshopper!

I would definetly be interested in giving this a shot, just looked up BWE and it seems very interesting. =)

I could not agree more, thank you for the words of wisdom.. That alone eased my mind more than you could imagine lol.

Thank you all very much for the personalized and sincere posts, it is much appreciated! Mal: I definitely have thought about being pro-active with the alcohol education program or what not, At this point I am starting to understand how important it is to limit myself to the vices I have depended on. Out of the friends I have I was probably the one who was encouraging the majority of the drinking so I dont think it will be a problem being sober around them. I will definitely check out chang tzu, ty for the recommendation. Pietro: Ill definitely look at these questions and try to answer them accordingly, your post helped me realize how the process of examining the questions from my self instead of the external so called "answers" could be very beneficial. vortex: are you speaking of moderation in this paragraph? and the best decisions are hard to see sometimes from my perspective, hopefully in time I can figure this out =) hua na da: I know all about the statistics and what not, and I have struggled with this as well... Where I get hung up is the laws that I live under. I struggle with them because of the whole "robin hood theory". If I am constantly told that I am an alcoholic due to the laws that govern me.... id think id be more likely to be an alcoholic. If i grew up in a society where alcohol was legal to consume at my age. would I not just be another normal kid? with each consumption ticket, and each set of classes i have attended it seems that I have began to drink more...(up until now) I hope this doesn't sound like an excuse or anything, that is not what I am trying to say, I just think the circumstances that surround the society I live in have some type of effect on the situation. Maybe it is the rebellion factor that every generation of youth experiences, im not sure. but you are right, i do need to look at the relationship with alcohol..

Basically, ill start by saying recently I was arrested for drinking underage... That by itself has put a huge toll of stress on me because it is my 4th violation of the same offense.. If you missed my intro thread, i will let it be known that I am 18 years old, I have had my problems with substance abuse going through a phase of many drugs, and ultimately figuring out that I did not like them. I smoked marijuana, I did cocaine, I did psychedelics etc. And I haven't touched any of those for 2 years. I like going up and being social with my friends and I do like alcohol. In every part of the world except the USA, its legal for an 18 year old to drink. Aside from the law, I do understand that I might of had a problem with drinking, and this being my 4th underage consumption ticket, I have decided to lay off the booze for a while and instead look for happiness in other places. I had been interested in taoism before the ticket, but it seems that the ticket has given me another reason to pursue the teachings of Lao tzu. I have looked for information on alcohol and taoism and justice / crime and Taoism but have not had much luck finding anything. All I know is that moderation is key, and that it is impossible to find inner peace with substances blocking your mind / body etc. (At least that is i how i interpreted what I have read regarding the topic) Anyway, I have been stressing out over my court date, and trying to rationalize the whole experience, this just brought me more stress so after reading the tao of pooh, i realized I should not worry as much and it would work itself out. The anxiety I was dealing with dissapeared, but i still worry in the back of my mind a little. I was just wondering if anyone had any insight towards these issues from a Taoist perspective. Was drinking underage necessarily wrong? if in moderation is it? does taoism have any text on justice? (right/wrong) any thing else that you think would be beneficial to me? I love reading and am always interested in expanding my knowledge on subjects that I find interesting, thanks in advance for any replies!!

Hey there, Im an 18 year old male living in Colorado, Life has thrown me a few lemons so far and due partially to that, i have become increasingly interested in philosophy. I am not enrolled in school, and do not have a high school diploma. I am working on my GED and trying to figure my life out. I have just started looking through the i ching and some additional taoism information and it seems very appealing, I came across the site and had to register! I am looking to further my knowledge and understanding of the tao by talking to real people and what not, look forward to being active