There's no question as to how I got put in jail a second time or what had gotten me arrested on that morning. It took some time to make peace with the fact that such a foolish decision was not the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that the consequences of just waiting on someone to take me how would’ve resulted in nothing more than me having to endure hanging out just a few more hours and waking up early to start the next day’s festivities. Driving under the influence could have not only ruined my professional life, but also a personal life that had started to look quite bright.
This blog isn’t a gripe session about the shame and agony I feel giving my life to a program that I would have under no circumstances have joined had I not been arrested. It’s not about bashing a judicial program designed to combat drunk driving. It’s not even about living a lifestyle free of alcohol or drugs through adapting to principles of a 12-step program. I am already living through that. That’s not your life (or at least it’s not anymore).
This blog is about bouncing back from pitfalls that could have broken you, sent you to a hell that even some of your closest family members and friends had no idea about. It’s about conquering the torment of being labeled something you are not by pushing back through a means of making your SECOND CHANCE count.
Please don’t let the word “RECOVERY” fool you.
It’s not just for addicts and fiends. It’s for everyone who took the path often traveled and finding themselves seemingly trapped by circumstances that were never beyond their control. They just chose to do otherwise because they had done it so many times before and the consequences were small—if any.
But in order for you, me, all of us to make this life count (in what may be some of you all's last go-round), we have to start keeping it R.E.A.L.
RELATE. Your story doesn’t have to be my story, but there is a sure guarantee that you have one. Lose someone close to you and felt your world was crumbling before your eyes? Give up on a dream because you thought the cards were stacked against you? Thought about taking the “easy way out” because nothing ever seemed to go right? Trust. I’ve been there and; and sometimes, I find myself wondering if this hell I’m experiencing is ever going to leave. Navigating this struggle to live a full life is kind of like being Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible. The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become comfortable enough to share that story so that others can find the comfort and empathy necessary to share a story of their own.
EMPOWER. In sharing a piece of our lives with others, we realize that we often have more in common than not. Opening ourselves up is but a small step forward to live out our that aspect of our lives that we may have placed on the back burner or completely lost due to lack of motivation. I may not totally understood the entire concept of why I have to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but one ideal that really stuck to me was “carrying the message.” I believe everyone has a story, good or bad, that can be an example to someone who has or will come to that fork in the road of life and be forced to make a choice. It is my hope that the information presented to you would be instrumental in making choices that benefit your life in a positive way, rather than have to go all the hell myself and so many others have gone through to come to the realization that we weren’t meant to live a life of mediocrity.
ALTER. The “message” gathered from sharing one’s life with even an audience of one is just as powerful as if connecting with an audience of one hundred thousand. The idea is to touch, connect, and change. We must change the way we operate in our daily lives by changing our way of thinking. Instead of dwelling on negative outcomes, develop a mindset intended on personal progression. The road to RECOVERY is not about doing things completely perfect to achieve a utopian outcome of a life rid of internal/external battles. Trial and error lead us into a space essential to appreciating growth in our journeys as we strive to find our place in life.
LIVE. By resolving to recover from your setback (whether it be mental or physical) and developing a means of inspiration to become more than what society, parents, friends, etc. have labeled you as, you will come to know that LIVING out your purpose is more than telling people about who you used to be. The true goal is guide them into developing a sense of who you are now and what better way to show them by transforming your truth into a walking testament to the person you are ready to become. You’ve been given a second chance to redefine “BRAND: YOU” and to go back to your old way of doing things is as counterproductive as it was before you came to this point in life. This is where the rubber meets the road…and all you got to do is BRING IT!
R.E.A.L Talk, R.E.A.L. Recovery is my story. This journey extends outside of my own path through a judicial program designed to reform alcoholics and alcohol abusers alike into free thinking individuals, intent on embracing a life void of the vices that once kept us trapped behind more than steel bars. Alcohol may not be your problem. Your problem may not even be related to living on the wrong side of the law; however, there are bits and pieces we can all take away to at least understand that there is always a choice when it comes to living what I like to call "our BEST LIFE"--and that the choices we make have the potential to impact generations far beyond the LIFE in which we lead today.
I’m am not an alcoholic; however, the ideals of healing not only my body but my mind through positive thinking and the proper foundation to move forward are lessons I have taken from this experience to deliver to whoever wants to listen. The people I’ve met and the things I’ve seen along the way are reasons enough to carry and develop my own message to others who seek that push to get back up from a fall that we once believed we’d never get back up from.
So...
Are you ready to get R.E.A.L.???
This is so very much needed, thanx TJ!
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