[JERRY2KONE]

Change is good. Change is something that for some reason we are all afraid of, but it is inevitable. Your not a bad parent Jay. We all make mistaktes. At least your trying to make a difference now. If your kid goes off in a direction that is not normal or in his best interest it is not because you failed. Making the effort is your success. He still has that free will thing to choose his own path.

I trained over 1000 recruits and our goal was to try and change them all, but if only one flies right, I got through to someone. We cannot win with all of them. A kid who does something like that(hanging) is missing something in thier lives, and they just do not know how to ask for it, or get it for themselves. That is what we are here for. TO ask them and guide them to whatever it is they seek. That is all we can do. Your on the right path now. Keep it up. Keep your sense of humor to. They need that as much as you do.

Disfunction is the norm these days, and everyone has it in their family even if they refuse to acknowledge it to some degree. Education is the fruit of life. Have you ever heard the saying that knowledge is power. The more you learn the more power you have over your own life and that of the ones you love. Who doesn't want more power over their own lives? Education never stops. I am now 50 and still learning stuff every single day, from guys in here, my kids, and yes even watching TV some days. The Dr. Phil Show can be a bit mellow dramatic, but his approach to most of the problems on his show are lessons that we can all take stock from. Dr. Oz is also a great source of medical info that can help us clean up our lives and that of our kids. He is a genious in medicine and the human body. I get my kids to listen to their shows and now they are so curious about learning more. We all watch the NatGeo, and Discovery channels daily trying to learn more about whatever we can. It is becomming an addiction with them now, and who wouldn't want that kind of addiction for their kids.

I also talk about how stupid drugs, booze, and even huffing are and the negative effects they have on ones life. My point to them is always about how difficult life is just trying to get through the day to day stuff without interferences, and why anyone would want to make it even harder by inputting that crap into their bodies and minds is beyond me. They get it now. I pray that they can be strong enough to steer clear of that life, but it is truly up to them once we educate them on their options. That is the mission that God has put on us, is to educate our kids to the degree of making them able to handle whatever comes their way.