I am a happy and proud person in recovery. What that means to me is that I haven’t used any mood or mind-altering substances since June 26, 2015.
I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol at the age of 11 and the progression of this disease had me using heroin daily by the age of 25. Throughout my using, I somehow managed to graduate from college with a B.A. in Political Science and become a teacher.
Once I started using opiates however, my life became very unmanageable very quickly. Homelessness and a life of crime is where my disease took me. Completely broken spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, a power greater than myself did something for me that I could not do on my own and that was ask for help. I could not do it anymore and I had reached a point of desperation.
My mother was going to get one of two phone calls – one from the police telling her that I was either dead or in jail – or it would be me on the other end asking for help. Luckily for my mother, unlike many others, she got the latter of the two. She took me immediately to the McShin Foundation and they provided a medical detox and a bed in a recovery house the same day. I have been there ever since.
I am now the Director of Men’s Program’s and I get to heal families and save lives everyday. At McShin, I learned that the solution to the disease of addiction is recovery and that I could lead a very successful and fulfilling life without the use of drugs and alcohol. I have found the joy in life and have learned how to be a son, a brother, a friend, a partner, and most importantly how to love myself.
I maintain my recovery through a 12-step program, prayer, meditation, and a conscious contact with a power greater than myself. I work a program of recovery to the best of my ability on a daily basis and give back what was so freely given to me. Recovery has given me a life that I didn’t think was possible and I remain humble and vigilant so that I can continue to help the people new to recovery.