I often talk with clients who are depressed because they haven't done much with their lives.
Drugs and alcohol took over. And here they are in their twenties, thirties, and beyond with little to show.
No assets. No car. No job skills. Maybe no friends. The future looks scary.
Sometimes they mention family and others their age who are doing well. They may be finishing school. Or running a business. It can be depressing.
But my counsel is that it doesn't have to stay that way. If one is willing to put in the work. I know, because I was there in my first year of recovery.
I was 51 years old. Riding a bicycle. Taking busses. Walking. Doing day labor in the boiling Arizona summer.
Sometimes I'd put a five gallon bucket of water on the back of my bicycle and ride down Main street washing windows for a few dollars. Whatever it took to pay my service fees at the halfway house where I spent my first year of recovery.
I worked hard to stay sober and rebuild my life. And that was the key: determination and perseverance.
Within a year I bought three ratty houses on the same lot with no money down. I started my own halfway house program - while working a full-time job.
I painted and rehabbed those houses until they were okay for people to live in. Soon they were full and then I found some more.
Within a year we were so busy that I had to quit my full time job. I worked at the halfway house for two years without a paycheck, just room and board. But I kept on, magically leasing and buying more property.
Addicts came to us for help, wanting to get sober. And wanting to give back. Collectively we built a community that today numbers around 700 people. A group that's trying to salvage what's left of their lives.
The point of all this is that if you want something and are willing to put in a lot of work with no promises of anything - you might just succeed.
No assets. No car. No job skills. Maybe no friends. The future looks scary.
Sometimes they mention family and others their age who are doing well. They may be finishing school. Or running a business. It can be depressing.
But my counsel is that it doesn't have to stay that way. If one is willing to put in the work. I know, because I was there in my first year of recovery.
I was 51 years old. Riding a bicycle. Taking busses. Walking. Doing day labor in the boiling Arizona summer.
Sometimes I'd put a five gallon bucket of water on the back of my bicycle and ride down Main street washing windows for a few dollars. Whatever it took to pay my service fees at the halfway house where I spent my first year of recovery.
I worked hard to stay sober and rebuild my life. And that was the key: determination and perseverance.
Within a year I bought three ratty houses on the same lot with no money down. I started my own halfway house program - while working a full-time job.
I painted and rehabbed those houses until they were okay for people to live in. Soon they were full and then I found some more.
Within a year we were so busy that I had to quit my full time job. I worked at the halfway house for two years without a paycheck, just room and board. But I kept on, magically leasing and buying more property.
Addicts came to us for help, wanting to get sober. And wanting to give back. Collectively we built a community that today numbers around 700 people. A group that's trying to salvage what's left of their lives.
The point of all this is that if you want something and are willing to put in a lot of work with no promises of anything - you might just succeed.
And you won't be down on yourself anymore.
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