2016 marks nine years sober for Brad, but he remembers his struggle with addiction like it was only yesterday.
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“My preference was cocaine, MDMA and marijuana,” says Brad. “And I was an alcoholic.”
After hitting what he calls “rock bottom” – which included not being able to afford the insulin he needed for his Type 1 diabetes due to his expensive drug and drinking habit – he decided to enter rehab and get the treatment he needed.
“I was tired of chasing the elusive high that I could never catch,” says Brad. “My money was gone, rent was gone, and even the drugs were gone. Rehab was the last house on the block.”
After a lot of hard work and dedication, Brad overcame his addiction. Now he’s sober, he’s actively applying the twelve-step program into his daily life, and he’s no longer consumed with an obsessive need to drink and do drugs. In short, he says, he’s free.
“I’m a better person,” shares Brad, now married with a young son. “I feel loved by others. And I feel like I truly love myself.”
Brad says he still faces challenges and temptations in his sobriety, but he stays positive – and he offers this same encouragement to others struggling with addiction.
“There is a way out of this. Just keep trying,” he says. “You keep feeding your addiction to stay high. The same is true with sobriety – you just have to keep feeding it.”
Brad says he wouldn’t trade his new sober life for anything. “Recovery has no boundaries. It’s for everyone who wants and works for it,” he says. “The more I put into my recovery, the more recovery gives me. It gave me my life back.”
All year long, we’re putting sobriety in the spotlight to help shatter the stigma around addiction and inspire people to change their lives. Read and share our stories – and join the conversation – using #ThisIsSober.
