Get Busy Living
I got this tattoo a year ago to celebrate how far I’ve come and to remind me of where I’ve been. In the worst days of my struggles with alcohol, my life was out of control, and I was a shell of myself that didn’t really care if I lived or died. I’d become a person I didn’t recognize, doing things I could never have fathomed—and it had all started out as good times. But alcoholism is a progressive disease—wanna know what’s worse than hitting rock bottom? Realizing there are endless bottoms below that if you’re not willing to recognize and accept the reality in front of you.
The cool thing about life, though, is there are so many different paths. Out of sheer exhaustion, I decided to try something new and chose not to give up on myself. I was scared of what was next, scared I didn’t know myself, and definitely scared that I was giving up all my good times. I had a lot of work to do, but things got easier, and then things started to get better.
In August, I will celebrate 12 years clean and sober. I got my life back. I finally realized that I had been dying because of the good times, and now I’m living for the great times. I’m proud to wear this tattoo, and I know that being healthy (at least for me) takes work—because my addiction is doing push-ups in the parking lot waiting for me to blink.
Anyone out there who is struggling—I believe in you. Just take it one day at a time.