Breaking Free

When I was a student in Grade 6, I had a teacher who was a master storyteller and loved to use props to make her point. I remember when she brought balls of yarn to school and asked us to line up in two rows facing each other. We were all extremely curious.

She gave everyone on one side a ball of yarn. I was in the row that got a ball of yarn and across from Davey, who didn’t get one. Davey had a smirk on his face because he had bullied me before and was delighted to be paired with me. I was not sure where this would lead, but at least I was safe in the classroom!

The teacher, Miss Misner, asked my line with the balls of yarn to tie the wrists of our partner standing across from us with the yarn. She said we were to only loop around their wrists once, then tie a knot. When we were all done, she asked the line with tied wrists to break the yarn. Everyone quickly broke it—even Davey.

Then she asked my line to tie their partner’s wrists again, this time wrapping the yarn around twice. The partner line with their wrists tied easily broke the tied yarn. Then we did it three times. Then four. By the time we got to five times, some were having difficulty breaking the yarn and getting free. Davey kept breaking free and I kept tying his wrists. (Yes, I was really enjoying this!)

By the time we got up to 10 times, Davey was trapped. He couldn’t break free! Imagine my delight as I saw this bully trying to force his wrists apart with no opportunity to escape. Miss Misner asked all of us to go back to our desks. Everyone in my line was smiling, while everyone in the line with tied wrists looked very uncomfortable. I’ve never forgotten what she said: “Well, everyone, the yarn is an activity like trying your first cigarette. After the first one, it is easy to stop, just like it was easy to break the yarn. But after a while, as you can see from those of you who are still bound by the yarn, it gets harder and harder to break the yarn. Something you do over and over is called a habit, and the more you do it, the harder the habit is to break. I know that some of you have been smoking in the field behind the school, and even though you think it’s fun and that you are cool, when you realize that this is not a good habit, you might have a hard time breaking it just like you can’t break the yarn.”

I have often thought of this as I work in the field of addiction. Breaking free from an addiction, just like the yarn, requires work, and sometimes, we can’t do it alone. That is why Simon House Recovery Centre exists: so that you get the supports you need to break free. Just like the yarn, addiction binds us so that we cannot be our best self until it is overcome.

Here at Simon House, we have amazing staff and a superb program plan to assist you. Our hope is that you will break free from your habit and all that holds you and that you will be able to restore relationships and live successfully from here forever!

And just in case you are wondering, I did take a pair of scissors and cut Davey free.

Dr. John R.

— President & CEO, Simon House