James Secules

I was in college (barely) and making ends meet by dealing drugs. I had stopped living the happy and free party life like most of my friends and started living along the dangerous path of doing and selling whatever I could get my hands on that day. I was an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. I had a girlfriend who also did drugs with me everyday. The only thing I woke up to do was get high. I was addicted to the lifestyle as much as I was the drugs and alcohol.

A couple days after my 20th birthday, my parents decided to pull the trigger and get me into rehab. I went there and found out that others felt the same way I did but somehow managed to stop using. I went to a halfway house with other people my age and eventually moved out with one of them.

I just graduated college with highest honors. I have a job working in drug and alcohol treatment. I write for SoberNation. Most importantly, I don't have to hear crazy, racing thoughts in my head everyday. My immediate thought when I wake up is about positivity and helping others, not doing something self-sabotaging or pleasure seeking.