Finns and drinking
QUESTION: Masters, I live in Finland and here people drink a lot. Why is that? It causes so much sorrow. Also my husband drinks, too much in my mind, and I’m quite angry at him because of that. He wants to drink less but can’t do it. Is he just weak or why does he drink? I stopped drinking a year ago and now I see how much it hinders living a good life. I so much want everybody to get rid of that addiction and start to live life as it could be lived! ~Marja, Finland
ANSWER: Some Finns do drink a lot. Statistics show that about 10% of the population consumes almost 50% of the liquor. Consumption has increased steadily over the last 40 years, but since the drop in taxes that reduced prices 22% in 2004, drinking has skyrocketed. With the increase in drinking has come medical implications. More people die from alcohol abuse and complications than from cardiac diseases or cancer.
Alcoholism or addiction problems are life lessons chosen by the soul before coming to Earth. In order to experience this lesson, you made the choice to enter the planet in a position that set the conditions all around you. Learning that you have the choice to quit, as you did, is the lesson. All such souls must go through the process of understanding why they are afflicted, know that they can change, and then take the steps necessary. Your desires for your husband can support him, but the decision to make the final choice away from alcohol is his.
These lessons rarely come alone. It is common to have issues of self-confidence, self-worth, not loving oneself, or fear as a secondary problem. Help your husband to understand why he needs to drink. He is running away from other feelings that possess him. Dealing with his feelings will replace his liquor need.