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Geez, this would turn into a novel - right? After graduating (high school) I worked as an electrician's helper awhile. I had an "epiphany" experience at about age 19 and made a decision to quit using drugs altogether and dove into christianity. During that period I was married, went through an apprenticeship program, became a journeyman electrician and went on to pass the master electricians' exam.
Everything went okay as far as life's successes' go. We had the the careers, the 3/2 house near Logans Gate, cars, family, church and everything else - but I got extremely sick in 1991. And my life got turned upside down as a result.
I had a sudden and acute onset of what the medical profession calls a "Major Depressive Episode". The illness wreaked havoc on me for over 2 years. It truly is as serious as cancer, diabetes, leukemia, or any other life-threatening (or debilitating) illness can be. Ultimately, it played a huge in role in me getting divorced. 2 years into this crisis I also resumed drinking alcohol and drug use after being clean and sober for almost 9 years. I felt let down and disappointed, like I had been slamdunked on my ass by god and life!! Gradually I was doing drugs more and more, hanging with the WRONG kind of people, and drifting farther away from "normal" society and life. I had become confused, disillusioned, and altogether lost at that point in my life. So (from 1991-2001) I definitely went through some rough times as I'd made a gradual downward spiral into darkness. And honestly, that's putting it "lightly". My circumstances and situations remained hopeless as long as I was getting high, but I continued to use anyways. I could not successfully return back to the "good ol' days" or control my using - I began to realize that I had developed a serious problem.
Finally, disgusted with the way my life was going, I gave recovery a chance. I thought I could resume and control my using after going to some meetings and doing some steps. Well, THAT did'nt work out so good for me, but it took almost 3 years to finally come to that conclusion. So on 10/10/2004 I made a stronger commitment to live clean. I decided to quit harming myself spiritually,physically,and financially by using drugs.
Today I've got new friends, a car, a house, and a life worth living just from staying clean. I've grown up alot and have more balance on a daily basis than at previous timesin my life. I'm not a superhero but I don't minimize what happened to me either. I consider myself very fortunate to have made it through two devastating illnesses that occurred back to back in my life (depression and addiction - in that order). I am grateful to be alive... in good health... and be an acceptable, productive member of society - to the best of my ability on a daily basis. I give myself some credit, GOD some credit, and a few truly great people that I have positive relationships with. I've had some success over the past 6 years - but I take life "one day at a time". I stay clean "just for today".
I am currently studying instrumentation, automation, and PLC's in hopes of leaving typical electrical work behind and moving to a higher level within the (electrical) industry. I've gotten deeper into music over the past few years and am investing in my dream of being a singer/songwriter/performer.