Addiction is a difficult reality for any and every adult to maneuver. It is especially difficult when the person who is addicted is only 16 years old. Blake stands before us one year after the worst decision of his young life. He was just doing what kids his age do, at a birthday party, his Sweet 16, a house full of friends, no parents, no supervision, everyone's telling the same lies. His parents had given him all the tools that he needed to just say no to drugs. What is missed at times is how heavy peer pressure can be. No matter how hard Blake tried eventually he gave in, eventually he put his hand in the cookie jar and his life changed forever. People who have never been addicted often think that addiction takes time, commitment, years of abuse, and this is just not true. The story that is shared with us is one that is very sobering and a reminder that our parents are doing their best to keep us as safe as possible. But the reality is that as we grow into ourselves, we spend a lot of time away from the adults in the room. A story about how one decision, on one night, to do one bad thing can change you from being just another teenager into being an addict. Just as easily as we go from zero to cruise control, is as quickly as our lives can change at the drop of a hat. Listening to our children, really listening to the struggles that they have on a daily basis is what will make us a stronger society, stronger parents, stronger educators, and build up communication. And as they say in those anonymous meetings the first step is recognizing that you have a problem, but the saddest step is their reality that they will have this problem with them for the rest of their lives.
366 Days Ago...
What a difference a year can make. It was 366 days ago that I completely turned my life upside down. I don't want to say that I'm looking back on it because when you're dealing with addiction you are looking at it in your face every day. But at least there is a little feeling of accomplishment, like I dug myself out of a whole… or my own grave. When I wake up in the morning, I'm still surprised sometimes that I'm actually waking up. Sounds so stupid, makes me laugh that I wake up patting my hands on my chest as a little check that, “Yep dude you’re still here, still living, and I’ll be damned if you’re heart isn’t still beating. Congrats!” Joking, took me a long time to get there but that’s my morning ritual. Don’t know if it’ll ever change. I turn my alarm clock off and I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a couple of minutes just appreciating something as simple as opening my eyes, taking a breath and being able to live. The worst thing about being a teenager is that you have no concept of what's real and what's fake. In the moment, the life that we're living seems real, it seems normal and for the most part it seems easy. You don't think about death. We all think that our parents are stupid. I know I did. And when I thought that my parents were stupid of course I thought I knew everything, genius status over here. 366 days later I can tell you I didn't know, I never listened, and even in the midst of everything that I put myself through I still don't know anything. I'm just glad to be here.