My past life

 Blog article by Bobinmaine The Other Side Of Me Sunday, December 7th 2008, 12:47 PM 18 2I have worked very hard most of my adult life. For nearly 20 years I would awaken at one am, deliver 500+ daily newspapers to rural customers which took about 4 hours give or take, then I would return home and rest for 20 minutes and go to work in a woodworking mill. Every other weekend I would have to do a brake job on my truck due to all the wear and tear of stop and go driving. I couldn't affored to hire a mechanic to keep my vehicles running so I was forced to do most of the work myself! I began delivering paprs and doing millwork on the exact same day back in 1987. Although I had a college degree, there was very little work available so I was forced to take whatever I could get. The milwork was very difficult due to the repetitive bending, twisting, and heavy lifting my body had to endure on a daily basis. The first 5 years was a breeze. I was young, strong, and full of piss and vinegar! As I got older, the wear and tear of my body made the days seem increasingly long and arduous. Eventually I saw a doctor who prescribed anti-inflamatory drugs. Over the years, I would become immune to one drug and another drug would be prescribed to me. In 10 years time I had probably been prescribed every anti-inflamatory drug on the market. Vioxx had just been taken off the market and my doctor was hesitant to prescribe any drug within that family so the only thing left was narcotics. Within a year, I was addicted. The addiction completely took over my life. It was kinda like being possessed. Little did I realize that I was born wit the compulsive behavior gene which makes one predisposed to addiction. Both my parents were alcoholics and having seen the way my mother died, I vowed never to take a drink but abusing drugs was doing the exact same thing. By the year 2000, I was taking a handfull of drugs a day because I needed them just to not get sick from severe withdrawals. I ended up in detox thanks to family and coworkers. After detox I would continue to do drugs off and on because I had a new drug that prevented me from getting sick. I wondered if the doctors knew what they were doing by prescribing it for me. Within two years I had quit drugs all together and was quite proud of myself. I did not know how to live a drug free life. I made some bad decisions, quit several jobs and went to work for a low paying pressure cooker of a job. The stress was too much to take. I soon discovered alcohol. As the story goes, I lost this job due to drinking and became severely depressed. So depressed that there was an unsuccessful suicide attempt which brought me into detox at the local hospital, once again. I was lucky enough to encounter some aggressive counselors who did not want my past to repeat itself After leaving the hospital's substance abuse ward, I entered an intensive outpatient program which I successfully completed. That was ten months ago. I regularly attend AA and NA meetings. I also help others who are desparately seeking help because without help there is nearly zero percent chance of maintaining sobriety beyond one year! I count my blessings, and my friends and I live my life One Day At A Time! Thankyou for reading this and God Bless!