Hello I just wanted to touch on the subject of addictions.
The reason I've chosen this topic is because I've had first hand experience dealing with it.
Just to give you a little history of how this came about.
Pretty much everyone I've known in the past has had one addiction or another including myself.
I recently gave up my addictions and have been clean for just about 3 years.
In the year 2001 is when things started to go south for me. I had a great job working for the Government. I had been in office for 5 years and was let go when the new Government took office and felt there was a need to downsize.
That's when my addictions really took over my life. I have to admit that I was a pot smoker since my early teens but when I lost my job with the Government I turned to drinking and after about 2 years I got into the heavier drugs.
I wasn't out of work to long after I left that job. I gained employment with one of the local health ministries and was taking care of people with addictions or mental health issues.
It wasn't the glamour job that I thought it was going to be, but I enjoyed it. Working with people that had challenges was actually quite rewarding when you saw a change happen.
I'm not going to tell you that it was because of me. All the praise goes to the ones that chose to make a better life for themselves.
It wasn't easy for the addicts to give up their addictions, in fact, it was more of a challenge for them having to live day to day trying to find ways to feed the addiction.
I've seen men commit some sort of illegal activity or women sell themselves just so that they could get high. It was a sad sight to see this happen but that's what society has become. A society of acceptance.
After about 2 years working with this group of people I turned to drugs myself. I got into doing drugs on a daily basis, but had enough sense not to commit any crimes in the process. I guess you can say that I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.
Although I had become addicted to drugs and drinking, I was still able to function from day to day with very few people knowing that there was a problem.
The only people that actually knew I had a problem for the first year were the other addicts that I had been working with or addicts from within the neighbourhood.
I of all people didn't think this would happen to me, but it did and I can't turn back time.
After a couple of years of hiding my addiction from my employers, I was discovered.
Ouch. When I was told that I would be let go from my job that was probably the most painful feeling that I've had in a long time. I thought I was invisible to them. I didn't think that they could see me as an addict.
I was a spokesperson for the health authority when it came to social housing for the addicts and people with mental health issues.
I did radio, tv and newspaper interviews to help promote this type of environment. Most of the people within the neighbourhood didn't like the fact that this type of facility was so close to home.
It was my job to try to persuade them or at the very least comfort them. I had to reassure them that this type of housing wouldn't create a problem for them.
We did have some incidents that had the police as well as any other emergency team stop by to take care of the tenants. There were several overdoses as well as a few deaths and that was a hard pill to swallow.
When you get to know most of the people that lived there and you see some sort of tragedy happen, it makes your heart sink. I had asked myself numerous times if there was any way that this could've been avoided, but came up with the same answer. NO. That's what happens with people that have addictions.
When I was forced to leave my job due to my addictions, it was like getting kicked in places that I don't even want to mention.
In order to get my life back on track I decided to move to a different town to see if I could get a fresh start. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.
I still had my addiction and had to feed it.
I used the money that I had on hand for drugs rather than pay rent or buy food. You probably guessed it. I ended up living on the streets.
This went on for quite some time before I finally found a place to live.
When I was on the streets, to avoid doing anything illegal, I did some crabbing. I was able to catch enough crab in a day to feed my habit and buy something to eat on an occasional basis. Of course the drugs and alcohol came first.
When I finally found a place to live my addictions just became in indoor event. I did work in order to take care of myself, but that still wasn't enough.
I lived in the house from Thanksgiving until Easter Sunday which was the time that I got my eviction notice. The eviction notice wasn't because of me though. I had a room-mate that was stealing from the land-lady and since one had to go, so did the other (me).
That put me on the streets again, but only for a short period of time.
One thing that I forgot to mention is that I have a lot of physical problems that prevent me from living a day to day basis as a normal person would live.
I have a heart condition as well as a seizure disorder and a few other problems. So you can probably tell, living on the streets and living in the addictive lifestyle wasn't something for me.
After about 2 weeks of being on the streets again, the local Mental Health office helped me get into a short term housing situation that lasted for about 2 months.
That's when it hit me.
I need to get some help.
I did just that.
I got some help to put me into a treatment center and made it through the 3 month program. I graduated from the treatment center and moved into a Recovery house.
After living in the Recovery house for about 1 month I actually started managing it.
That was quite the experience for me.
I had gone through my addictions and got treatment for them and then found myself working as a Manager in a Recovery House that had 10 men living in it.
That was exactly what I needed.
Helping others through their recovery made me understand what my life was like and how I could change it.
I had lived there for close to a year while working there.
I moved out in January of this year and am living with a wonderful girlfriend that has given me hope for a great future.
Since I left the Recovery house I've been working online. I do this to help me stay clean. I work about 16 hours a day on my computer and my girlfriend is very understanding when it comes to doing what I do.
I'm actually turning my life around and being constructive with my life.
I've been clean for almost 3 years now and love every minute of it.
I own a Safelist and am working on my other websites. Most of this is designed to help the "Little Guy" out.
I was a "Newbie" and still consider myself one, with the exception of contributing to the online industry with my products.
I have started to create a credible name for myself online and I'd like to keep it that way.
I'm a Contributor for many Giveaway events and work hard at succeeding in them.
Over the last few months I've been gaining alot of confidence in myself and what I'm doing.
My relationship couldn't be any better with my girlfriend.
I've never been in a relationship where there wasn't some sort of arguing going on and I have to admit that I love it.
We've been together for about 1 1/2 years and going strong.
I owe some credit to her for sticking with me and supporting what I do.
I'm not a "Guru" online. I'm just a "regular Joe" that's trying to make a living.
I haven't reached that point yet, but I'm on my way.
Well, I've probably kept you long enough.
I hope you understand what I went through and what other addicts have suffered because addictions can be a very strong influence on what a person does with their lives.
I can honestly say that because of my addiction, and because I went through the process of cleaning up, my life is much better just for knowing what it was like to live on the other side of the tracks.
I hope that there's one addict that has read my story and made a change in their life because of it.
I'm going to leave you with a prayer that I learned while in the treatment center.
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God, Grant me the Serenity to Accept the Things I Cannot Change
The Courage to Change the Things I Can
And the Wisdom to Know the Difference
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