Your Future Is Limitless!

Each one of us is a unique individual. You are an original. You are the only person on the face of the earth ever born with your fingerprints, DNA, body scent, personality, and talents. Because you are one of a kind, no one can ever take your place or fulfill your potential.

If your life were to be cut short by active alcoholism or active addiction, your potential would not be fulfilled. No one else can fulfill your role, because no one is exactly like you. You are valuable, you are needed, and you are necessary. You are unique and original, you are special. The gifts and talents you have inside are there to help make your world a better place to live. True happiness is obtained when you recognize your true potential and use your talents to serve others.

It doesn't matter what you've done; only what you are doing today. Take all the pain and experiences you have endured over the years, all the things you have done wrong, all the failures, and let downs to yourself and to those who loved you, and turn it around. As you will see from the following stories, all of which are based on the true-life experiences of recovering alcoholics, and drug addicts, you too can do it! You never have to hang your head in shame again, or suffer from the bondage of living in active addiction or alcoholism. It's never too late, as long as you are still alive, it's never too late.

Don't give up! You can do it, the same way I did, and many other addicts and alcoholics are doing it every day. All you have to do is reach out for help; give yourself a break, don't get overwhelmed, and take it one day at a time.

Woman in Recovery
40Year Old Black Woman

All I remember as a child is pain, fear, and tears. My father was very abusive to my mother, and I was so crazy about mom, it hurt me to see her in pain. I could never understand why she would never stand up for herself, and it began to make me angry, as I got older. Finally, the day came when she left him, but the man she went to was worse! He started to fondle me at night when mom was at work. I used to just cry, and pray for him to stop.

In addition to being abusive, he was also a crack dealer, and began feeding me crack to, "make it better." I ended up getting pregnant by him, and my mother disowned me, throwing me out of the house, I was so hurt, confused, and lost.

He continued to take care of me, and feed me dope. My disease got so bad, one night he wouldn't give me any more, and I knew the police were looking for him. So I called the police on him, because I knew where the package was, and after they took him to jail I barricaded myself in the apartment and smoked it all. My child didn't get fed for days, it was through his cries I heard my own, and knew I needed help.

I went into treatment, and they taught me how to deal with my problems and live life on life's terms, without having to use drugs.
I have been clean for 13 years. I still go to NA meetings on a regular basis, I sponsor other women, and have a sponsor, and I still work the 12 steps. Through this fellowship I have gone back to school, I'm a responsible member of society, and continue to grow, and accomplish goals that I never thought I would; not in a million years.

Man in Recovery
36 Year Old White Male

I have always been a strong person able to make it through anything. When my wife and I started having problems, I quit my drinking and thought everything would be fine until she filed for divorce and left with our kids. I was devastated. A guy I worked with handed me some Crack, and said, "Here, this will make you feel better." Did it ever!
It was only a matter of time before I realized I had finally met my match.

Crack brought me to emotional lows I never dreamed existed. I didn't care about myself, and didn't want to live any more. I lost everything. I got arrested for Assault, while trying to rob someone for money, and while I was in jail, they brought an AA meeting in the jail. A man spoke and told his story, and it just touched me inside, I knew if he could do it I could do it. I stayed clean and sober for about three months after getting out of jail before the desire to drink and drug came back. I knew I had to do something before my disease won, so I went in to treatment.

Treatment gave me a strong foundation, and helped me to reach deep inside of me, and get real. I continue to work a good program, and have been clean and sober for a year. I have a good job, just bought a trailer, and my kids are coming to visit me next month; and they are almost as excited as I am!

Man in Recovery
65 Year Old White Male

I grew up in an upper echelon home of old money, high standards, and no real love for myself or in the family. I went to private schools, Ivy League Colleges up North, and became a Corporate Attorney. Alcohol and Cocaine were always accepted in my social circle, and I was able to control it until I made enough money to retire when I turned 50. I had too much time on my hands, and too much money.

I met and married am airline stewardess, and we had a son. This filled some of the void I felt inside, but I always found myself bored when my wife would go out of town. I started calling an Escort Service, and got close with this one escort. One night, she asked me if I partied, I did not expect her to pull out Crack when I said yes. I figured I did not fit the "Crack Head " mold, so I would be able to handle it. I found myself spending as much as $2,000.00 per day on it. I felt myself getting out of control, and my only vice was to put myself on a pedestal in comparison to the prostitutes and crack dealers. I thought I was better then, until finally my wife came back form a trip early and caught me, she investigated the funds, and say that I had gone through nearly everything.

She divorced me, I lost everything, and suddenly I found myself on the same level as all those I had put down. I had to get help. I humbled myself and called my daughter from my first marriage, she got me into treatment, and now I am living in her summer home, and starting over at 65 years old. For the first time in my life, I feel as though I have some worth, some meaning. I am not hiding who I truly am behind money, a fancy car or a young wife. I have been clean and sober for 6 years now, I attend AA regularly; I am working a program, and have found the true meaning of intimacy through this fellowship. Intimacy is not sex with a stranger or even a younger wife. Its respect, and honesty, unconditional love, and all the wonderful things I never knew.

Woman in Recovery
53 Year Old White Woman

I started drinking when I was 22, and married for about a year. My husband used to put a beer in front of me and a cigarette in my mouth, and laugh as I would make faces from the taste of the beer, and choke on the smoke of the cigarette. I drank socially for years after my daughter was born. It wasn't until she turned 13 years old, and my husband and I got a divorce, that I really started drinking.

I was drinking over a 12 pack of beer and a pint of Scotch a night. I would come home from work, and just sit in my bed drinking, with the pint on my nightstand, and the 12 pack on the floor next to my bed. I was in serious denial, because I was a functioning drinker, I never missed work, never got in trouble; I didn't see a problem until the problem became my daughter's behavior. Even then, it took years to realize I was an alcoholic. Watching my daughter, I realized her alcoholism was initiated by conditioned behavior; that was all she ever knew from growing up around her father and I. We drank because we were happy, drank because we were sad, drank to escape, drank to relax, drank because it was Monday, and so forth, and so on.

I went to treatment, and have been sober for 10 years, through the fellowship of a 12-step program. My daughter, unfortunately, was down the path of a destructive lifestyle from the disease of addiction, and hit bottoms far worse than I could ever imagine. By the grace of God, she too found her way into treatment, and the rooms of a 12-step program, and has been clean and sober for 8 months now. We have not seen or spoken to each other in over four years, but by mail, and with the guidance and support of our peers from our 12-step programs, we are taking the steps to rebuild our relationship.

Women in Recovery
32 Year Old White Women

My parents were social drinkers and never used drugs. My father had a violent temper with others, but was never abusive to us. At the age of 12, I started experimenting with drugs, and continued using for the next 16 years. I inherited my father's temper I now have more assault charges than drug related charges, or prostitution. I never finished high school.

I lost custody of my four children, I was in recovery once and I managed to stay clean for three years. I got everything back. I became complacent, stopped working the program, and relapsed. Within three months I lost everything and back to the streets I went. I lost hope trying again was out of the question. However, God had other plans for me. About nine months ago, an old boyfriend combed the streets looking for me. He dragged me kicking and screaming into his truck, and brought me to a homeless shelter.

In my heart I knew this was my last chance, and I stopped fighting. When I was about three months clean young women came to the shelter, she reminded me so much of me, while she was there, she found out she was HIV positive and she still didn't give up. I took her under my wing, for she had no family and I had lost my children. It was then I realized the therapeutic value of one addict helping another was without parallel. I realized no matter what our problems where in life; you can get through them.

Now, she and I are roommates, we both stay clean, and are productive members of society. I have been warded unsupervised visits with all my children. I am living again. I have hope again. I am facing life on life's terms in a healthy, drug free way; with the help of a 12-step program and my peers in the fellowship of NA.