Last week I spoke at Drake Counseling Services in Fargo, North Dakota Drake is an addiction treatment center and it is where I went to treatment in 1996.
It's a wonderful place and the staff there is absolutely the best!When I got into treatment in October of 1996, I was taken to a large room with about 50 other addicts and sat in the back and listened to someone tell their story.
Thursday night I was in the same room as in 1996 except instead of listening, I was telling my story!
It is always very emotional for me when I speak at Drake, knowing what I do now about addictions, and seeing these folks that are here, many for the first time. As I was telling my story, I kept thinking of when I was in treatment and especially early on how I wasn't sure if I ever would or could ever get better and get my life back.
Sometimes you lose hope and when that happens it's much easier to give up and go back to your own ways again.
My main message is one of hope and not to give up and that no matter what it takes you need to put every ounce of energy into your recovery and that YES, you can get your life back and life can be better then ever before!
I get emails and letters from people saying thank you so much for sharing your story, and that you have given mehope.
As much as I appreciate their thank you's, I also want to thank them for letting me share my story!
As much as I hope it helps them with getting their sobriety back, it helps me just as much in maintaining mine, and for that I will be forever grateful!
As I tell them and myself, "You can live 40 days without food, 7 days without water, a few minutes without air, but you can't live one minute without hope"
Last Thursday, I gave myself more hope and I pray that's what they left with also!
Take care and God Bless, Dick
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