Two Years Down and So Many to Go

 

Everyone has a story; whether that person chooses to tell their story or not is entirely up to them. This is my story; my name is David. As of right now, I am 27 years old. I have been sober for a little over two years now, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

For you to fully understand my story, we need to go back in time to my younger years. My story honestly isn't full of sadness and heartbreak. I had a good life up until I turned 18 when my dad passed away while he was at work. It shattered me, and I didn’t handle it well. I started grabbing anything that would keep him close to me by grabbing onto his two worst qualities, making the following eight years of my life absolute chaos. I spent every chance I got in those days so high or drunk I couldn't have told you my name.

For a while, it helped with the pain of the loss, or at least I thought it did. In reality, all it did was numb me for a short time, and once I came down or sobered up, it gave me the pain back, but with twice the amount of it. I got myself so deep into my meth addiction that I lost everything; my home, my job, my relationship and my vehicle. I honestly didn’t care. I had destroyed all the relationships I had with my friends and family because I was only worried about how I was going to get my next high. It got so bad that I would lie and even steal if I had to, to get what I needed to make the pain go away.

The drinking came later on. I was 22 before I even started drinking heavily, but once I started, I went all out and ended up drinking 2 or 3 pints of vodka a day. This caused me so many problems with my family because I would black out and wake up not knowing what I had done the night before or if I had done something truly horrible. My drinking ended up with me in jail on more than one occasion. It took me sitting in a one-person super max jail cell at the age of 26 to pick up the wall phone, call my family, and tell them I was ready to change. I couldn't keep going the way I was. It would kill me, or I'd end up with a life sentence.

“I am here to tell anyone who reads this that there is hope and addiction does not have to be forever. I am living proof of this.”

My family told me they would see what they could do, which honestly surprised me because the stress and hell I have put my family through was enough for them to wash their hands with me, and I couldn't be mad at them because I know I have messed up so much in my life. Even though I put my family through so much, in the end, they still helped me find a treatment program and got me into it. Now, I am over two years sober and work at the rehab that I went to. I am here to tell anyone who reads this that there is hope and addiction does not have to be forever. I am living proof of this.

D.L., Narconon Graduate