junctionalfunkie
Bluelighter
Commiseration is good for a while, but it doesn't have to go on forever. Like it or not, the only way to change is get up off your ass and take action. If there is some part of your life, or even your entire life, that you are unsatisfied with, it is your responsibility to at least try to change it.
Ten years ago, I was a daily IV cocaine and heroin addict.... I eventually decided that I could no longer live that way, and had a decision to make: get clean or take the "coward's way out." I got clean.
I was clean for three years, and then my dog died. I was back on the needle within a week. After a few more years of raging, I decided I had to fix things again. The past couple of years have been really life-changing. Within the past 2 years or so, I've had the opportunity to do the last 4 drugs I had never been able to find before: DMT, Ketamine, Opium and Mescaline. DMT gave me some experiences that radically changed my personal philosophies and worldviews... much for the better. I spent a year and a half in psychotherapy, and discovered the healing powers of acupuncture, traditional chinese medicine, meditaton, etc. I've been exercising all summer, and am in the best physical shape I've been in in over 20 years.
But I think I'm done with drugs. I've gotten everything I can out of them.... and it was a lot. A lot of fun, and a hell of an education in itself.
In two months, I'm leaving to go live and teach English in Thailand, something I've been talking about for 8 years. For the first time in my life, I can answer the question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I have 2 B.A.'s and 5 years teaching experience, volunteering at a private university. Everyone tells me I will be extremely marketable in Asia, and to be choosy about job offers.
I'm about 90% excited as hell and 10% terrified. But each day, I'm a little less frightened. I know that teaching is what I was meant to do, and that I'm actually good at it, and find it very satisfying.
Don't give up on yourselves, folks. If I can change, anyone can. I look at it like this: I spent my youth being wild and young. I have traveled all over the world, loved and been loved by many beautiful and amazing women, amassed a circle of great and loyal friends. I have known physical and emotional highs and lows that most people cannot even imagine. Hell, I even got to go to college like the smart people do.
Now, I'm 39. I'm ready to leave my decadent past behind and get serious about life. I have lots of close friends who didn't survive their youths. I had to crawl through a river of shit to become the person I am today, and I'm pretty fucking proud of who I am, if I do say so myself.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. The present moment is what really matters; make it count!
I also discovered the key to happiness, and it's really quite simple: Learn to make distinctions between the things in this world you have control over and the things you don't. The things you CAN control, throw your entire heart and soul into doing the best you can. That's all you or anyone else can ask of you. The things you can't control, well.... you can't control them, but you can control your reaction to them. Learn healthy ways to manage stress.
Don't let your emotions control you.
"Wasted years" are only wasted if you don't learn from them. Everyone makes mistakes; try not to make them more times than is necessary. Learn from your own mistakes, and from those of others.
I have a favorite quote, by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Develop your own philosophy of living, and put it into action. Life is short enough.
Don't give up. Ever.

Ten years ago, I was a daily IV cocaine and heroin addict.... I eventually decided that I could no longer live that way, and had a decision to make: get clean or take the "coward's way out." I got clean.
I was clean for three years, and then my dog died. I was back on the needle within a week. After a few more years of raging, I decided I had to fix things again. The past couple of years have been really life-changing. Within the past 2 years or so, I've had the opportunity to do the last 4 drugs I had never been able to find before: DMT, Ketamine, Opium and Mescaline. DMT gave me some experiences that radically changed my personal philosophies and worldviews... much for the better. I spent a year and a half in psychotherapy, and discovered the healing powers of acupuncture, traditional chinese medicine, meditaton, etc. I've been exercising all summer, and am in the best physical shape I've been in in over 20 years.
But I think I'm done with drugs. I've gotten everything I can out of them.... and it was a lot. A lot of fun, and a hell of an education in itself.
In two months, I'm leaving to go live and teach English in Thailand, something I've been talking about for 8 years. For the first time in my life, I can answer the question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I have 2 B.A.'s and 5 years teaching experience, volunteering at a private university. Everyone tells me I will be extremely marketable in Asia, and to be choosy about job offers.
I'm about 90% excited as hell and 10% terrified. But each day, I'm a little less frightened. I know that teaching is what I was meant to do, and that I'm actually good at it, and find it very satisfying.
Don't give up on yourselves, folks. If I can change, anyone can. I look at it like this: I spent my youth being wild and young. I have traveled all over the world, loved and been loved by many beautiful and amazing women, amassed a circle of great and loyal friends. I have known physical and emotional highs and lows that most people cannot even imagine. Hell, I even got to go to college like the smart people do.
Now, I'm 39. I'm ready to leave my decadent past behind and get serious about life. I have lots of close friends who didn't survive their youths. I had to crawl through a river of shit to become the person I am today, and I'm pretty fucking proud of who I am, if I do say so myself.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. The present moment is what really matters; make it count!
I also discovered the key to happiness, and it's really quite simple: Learn to make distinctions between the things in this world you have control over and the things you don't. The things you CAN control, throw your entire heart and soul into doing the best you can. That's all you or anyone else can ask of you. The things you can't control, well.... you can't control them, but you can control your reaction to them. Learn healthy ways to manage stress.
Don't let your emotions control you.
"Wasted years" are only wasted if you don't learn from them. Everyone makes mistakes; try not to make them more times than is necessary. Learn from your own mistakes, and from those of others.
I have a favorite quote, by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Develop your own philosophy of living, and put it into action. Life is short enough.
Don't give up. Ever.

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