Reality is as follows, life is not meant to be perfect.  

We as humans are not meant to be perfect.

Humans cannot escape the mistakes we experience in life.

The beautiful thing about life is, it influences us to learn.

Growth is not linear, it requires our own version of strength.

We find our growth in various ways.  

Sometimes it appears positive, other times we’re faced with a challenge.

Life’s negatives help us face our true potential.

It is in those moments where we must decide how to react.

Our reactions to the outcomes we face matter most.  

A lesson taught, but not easily learned.

I grew up suffering with depression.

I carried a mountain of insecurities with me. 

I had no idea how to fit in.

Naturally, I would seek to be anyone but myself.

I have spoken before about life’s challenges, maybe you relate to some of them.

Make no mistake about it, I have met some of the greatest friends of my life.

However, not everyone in my life had my best intentions at heart.

I think back to the group of friends I had that introduced me to drinking.

I thought drinking was the cool thing to do.

It would help me make friends, maybe even help my confidence with my first crush.

I grew up being sheltered for most of my life so I didn’t know how to act at a party.

All it took was one friend to recommend I drink just to “loosen up a bit”.

Drinking alcohol followed me into my twenties.

I would mostly drink at parties, and sometimes even by myself.

It was never a consistent act, but sometimes I would drink too much on purpose.

Something that no one should ever do.

It is unsafe and bad for your health.

I became older and more aware of how I used drinking to cope with my depression.

I sought out to take the proper steps to stop it, but always fell back into the patterns.

It became so bad that I would let others influence my choices.

This very mindset led me to my first DUI, I have never committed a crime before.

I had been drinking with a date that night, I was confident I would be okay.

I attempted to drive home, but ended up crashing my car.

Luckily no one was hurt, but the police found me.  

I knew in that moment my life was bound to change for the worst.

In that traumatic moment, I was convinced my life would not get better.

I have made a mistake that defined the next year of my life.

There are moments life brings you, that will challenge you.

It’s up to you to learn from your mistakes.  

I can confidently say that incident of my life helped me stop drinking.

I have been sober for a year, I’ve never felt better in my life.

That was just step one, my journey of redemption was not over.

Perhaps your mistakes may not be as severe.

You’re still capable of bouncing back.

Even if you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll start to again.