Don’t give up. Keep trying for recovery, no matter what. Taking it one day at a time, surround yourself with people you want to be like, and keep it simple.
It started when I was young. I couldn't party like everyone else—when I started, I didn't want to stop. Eventually my mind learned that using a substance was better than dealing with reality and paying bills. I used heroin until it controlled everything, every day the same struggle to get out of bed in the afternoon.
I finally found recovery in jail. When I started using it was because I wanted to, then it became a habit, then it was out of necessity—when I found recovery in jail it was out of necessity, then it became a habit, and now I'm here because I want to be. The recovery process has been the total opposite of active addiction.
Recovery has given me a new life, not my old one. I have learned what emotions are, how to feel empathy and how to share someone's pain, and how to help other people through this experience.
Don’t give up. Keep trying for recovery, no matter what. Taking it one day at a time, surround yourself with people you want to be like, and keep it simple.
The disease of addiction affects 1 in 3 Americans. The more we share our stories, the more we reduce the stigma and suffering.
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