I am very curious to know as to how you came out of such a dark place. What was the driving force that got you out of there? When you lost everything, how did you manage to put everything back together? Kinda going through something similar and it gives me alot of encouragement when I hear stories of people overcoming challenges and achieving their form of happiness and success.
Jail and a felony possession charge was my rock bottom. Laying on a two inch mat on the cold ass concrete jail floor while detoxing was pretty rough, but not enough to make me wanna change my life around.
The entire first month I was there I hadn’t changed my ways of thinking. That’s even counting the initial first couple of weeks feeling like complete shit.
At this point I was living back at my parents house. With no house, no job, no wife and she took the kids with her. I had nothing so I really thought I had nothing to lose at that point.
The second month is where things started to set in. Seeing my kids through glass on visitation day was a bad feeling. Sitting in jail facing up to 5 yrs and realizing I was wasting my life was starting to not sit well with me. I didn’t want to be the dad that wasn’t in their children’s life. All these things started to add up and I realized nothing was worth wasting my life and sitting in jail for. Nothing!
Death didn’t even scare me to the point of stopping my addiction. I even had many close friends die by accidentally overdosing. Being totally alone wasting away in jail and not living life was a wake up call for me. My kids were my driving point to do better.
My mindset had changed though because the first time in a long time my head was clear. I wasn’t physically sick from withdrawals so my body felt good. I needed something to pass time away in jail so I started working out. All body weight stuff and a shit ton of push ups. It didn’t take long after that to notice how great working out made me feel. I had found my drug replacement and stress reliever! Working out was that for me.
Since my body felt good and my mind was clear I started to see the results from all those pushups, which inspired me to want to continue doing more and more.
I knew I had to start over fresh and get away from everything and everyone from my old lifestyle. I needed a sober living environment. Luckily I had a sister that could provide that for me so when I got out of jail I moved in with her to get back on my feet. I immediately started looking for work. Went through a temporary company and they placed me quickly. Anything was better than nothing.
I set goals for myself. Find a sobering living environment, find a job asap, get my drivers license back, and get back into my house, repair my relationships with my kids and family, and so on. (When my ex wife left she left everything. She just didn’t want it).
I slowly started to accomplish my goals and it felt rewarding to do so. That drove me to make new goals and reach them as well. Getting my utilities turned back on in my name was even a goal.
See, setting small goals and big goals to reach is really important I believe. I needed something to keep me focused and drive me forward.
I was blessed to have close family around me that cared enough for me to help. For that I’m forever grateful. One of the hardest things to do is ask for help, but it’s necessary when you’re starting over with nothing.
Lastly, I had to forgive myself and love myself again. I know how corny that sounds but it’s true. Working out gave me back my confidence and I just built myself up from there.
It all takes time man. You have to continuously work on it. Once you start believing in yourself again others will notice the change as well. After doing this over and over year after year it becomes routine. Having a routine to follow absolutely helps with recovery.
Hate to hear anyone going through this shit. Hopefully I answered your questions bro, if you have anymore just ask, or PM me man.
It does get better. When you’re at the bottom the only way left to go is up!