I woke up this morning just like every other morning. I got up, got dressed, got my kids dressed & breakfast. Rushed out the door, talked to my best friend on the phone until my first stop. Got back to my car & checked Facebook. & that’s when my normal morning changed. Changed quickly.
Another beautiful life gone. Never able to talk to their mom, dad, friends, kids, partner. They’re gone. All my feelings from November 18th 2016 instantly come back. But this time worse. This set of family & friends & peers are feeling everything I did losing my brother. I woke up to a normal day this morning, they did not.
Every. Single. Day. I get on social media I see & read something about someone falling deeper & deeper into the opiate crisis. These amazing, talented, loving people are drowning in opiates. Why is this happening? These are people you & I have seen since we can remember. They are normal people.
I googled & googled. & even googled some more. I just wanted answers. I want to know why. I mean, we all know about drugs & addictions & what it does to you. So what is it that keeps bringing them back?
& that’s when I closed out of google. My answers weren’t there.
We all live with this mentality that it won’t ever be me. We all think we are undefeatable. We all think we know ourselves & our limits. but we don’t. drugs are stronger than you & I. They don’t care what color hair you have. They don’t care what makes you smile. They don’t care that losing you means your loved ones will never be the same. They don’t care about you. Drugs will hurt anyone who lets them.
Addiction-noun
- the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.
Addiction, I believe, is a hard battle that people have to struggle with every single day. I can’t imagine. It’s such a horrible, horrible disease that can completely ruin an amazing person. I firmly believe it is one of the hardest things to suffer from. I’ve seen a struggling addict. I’ve witnessed the countless struggles. The wanting to do right. But wanting to feel good. I’m not by any means saying addiction is easy. It’s not.
But I do want you to know, whether you’re a stuggling addict, know someone struggling, or are completely clueless about it all, drugs don’t define you. DRUGS DO NOT DEFINE YOU. they don’t.
& I hate that when someone dies from an overdose people go ‘well, they knew better’ excuse me? That’s a life gone & you’re telling me that ‘they knew better’? Well did you know that person ‘who knew better’ was fighting every day to be better. That they had been clean for awhile. (I’ll go ahead & end this paragraph because it’s a whole blog post in itself)
We all have vices. We know these vices are bad. But we do it anyway. We’re human. We make mistakes. I’m here to tell you, if you’re struggling, please reach out. Please. I’m here for you, whether I know you or not, I’m here to help.
Please feel free to email me
macieseattle@hotmail.com
