I pulled myself up
When I began my journey at Bridge House I was physically, mentally, and spiritually broken. I had fallen so far in such a short time in my life. Drugs and alcohol had become my master, and I had fully lost the power of choice to even think, feel, or act on my own. I remember waking up one day by the New Orleans Mission, sleeping on the cold hard concrete listening to the cars pass overhead. I asked myself, “How did you ever let yourself get to this point?” I never realized at that time that I had a disease. I had come from a good family and to be living on the street was very foreign to me.
By this point in my life, my disease had made me do terrible things to everyone that I loved and they were no longer in my life because I was unwilling to get help for so long. I always believed that I should be able to control this thing, like other people that I see, but it never occurred to me that I have a physical allergy and a mental obsession that is triggered whenever I put any type of foreign substance into my body that changes my perception. I pulled myself up from that hard, cold concrete and came to the realization that I could no longer live the way I was living.
I had heard many great things about Bridge House, but I never had thought to go there because I had to become completely willing to become sober. I walked to Bridge House from the New Orleans Mission carrying my luggage behind me and was completely broken. Once I entered the Bridge House program, they were able to put structure back into my life and it was a place where I could feel safe and truly cared for. Bridge House introduced me to recovery and now it was my time to take the action. I acquired a sponsor and began working steps. I began learning things about myself that I had buried for so long through the use of drugs and alcohol. I began to come to the realization that drugs and alcohol were only a symptom of my problem and the thing that I needed to work on the most was myself.
Alcohol and drugs were my solution for many years, but, somewhere down the line, it had turned its back on me. By working the steps and building my support group in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, I began to learn how to deal with everyday life issues that I would normally get intoxicated over. My relationship with my family and loved ones has grown more than I could ever imagine. Today, I am able to spend quality time with them and give them the son and significant other that they have always known I could be from the very start. I can now contribute to life and society on a daily basis instead of being a burden. I will forever be grateful for the things that Bridge House has done for me to get my life back in order.
Brett J.