An Ex-Addict Looks at His 38th Birthday
I came into this world on August 14th, 1981. I almost got taken out of this world so many times, mostly due to my own poor decisions, bad choices, and my inability to deal with life. Today, as I turn 38, I’ve been looking back at my life and thinking about why I was put in this world.
I definitely had my own struggles. Actually, I went through my own personally created hell and I took my family along for the ride. On my 21st birthday, I was badly addicted to cocaine. I was nearly arrested on my 24th birthday and I spent my 26th birthday freshly out of treatment, trying to find my place in this world.
As the years have gone on, finding my purpose, finding where I belong, has been a hard and confusing road to travel. Even after I got clean, I had so many questions I couldn’t find answers to and life certainly wasn’t peachy every single day.
When I got clean I realized life is hard enough even without drugs and that life only seemed easier when I was high because I couldn’t actually see or experience fully what was going on in the world around me due to my being so clouded, numb, and blinded by drugs. Needless to say, I’ve had my ups and downs even after getting clean.
There are so many reasons I shouldn’t be here right now. I should have probably overdosed multiple times. I probably should have been murdered by the people I surrounded myself with. But I wasn’t. I kept surviving, I kept pushing. and here I am on my 38th birthday.
These days, I’m educating the public about drug use from personal experience and I’m helping addicts fix their lives and I’m gluing families back together. If I don’t do it, who will?
I figure I’m still alive for a specific reason which I firmly believe is to help those who feel like they’re beyond help, or to assist the family that believes there’s no more hope for their child. After all, I have personal realty on this because at one point I was considered a “throwaway client” by other treatment centers and they told my family I’d most likely never get clean or have a good life.
If you ask my parents, I was the worst addict imaginable. And they’re not wrong—I was awful. But thanks to Narconon, I’m here telling anyone who will listen that no one is beyond hope and no one is beyond help.
My family could very easily be spending today mourning the fact that I’m gone because, in the end, I succumbed to my demons. They could have been spending the day looking at my baby pictures, consoling each other, and trying to remember the good times. But instead, my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew were all there today on speakerphone wishing me another “happy birthday.”
I’m still here because I fought for my life, and my family fought right along with me. I’m lucky enough to have made it this far, and I look forward to what’s to come.
All My Best,
Jason Good
