The past few mornings
I've really struggled to wake up
And to get up
I just wanted to sleep the day away
And completely zone out
But I can't do that
I have two dogs that rely on me to let them out in the morning
To walk them
To feed them
And to play with them
And thank God I do
Because otherwise I don't think I would ever get out of bed
I guess an accumulation of things have got to me over the last week
Coming home from my holiday
Failing my driving test
Being attacked on my blog
And losing weight all contributed to being a big ol' bump in the road for me
But that's life I guess
You just have to roll with punches
I suppose I'm back to reality now
Back to everyday life
Back to my humdrum existence
I know it's up to me to get back on track now
I need to make some decisions
I need to decide whether I want to be in recovery from drugs or not
Because I am misusing my meds
And in my book
That is as good as using
It alters my mood
It gets me out of my head
And if I do choose recovery
I need to decide whether I want to do it the 12 step way
And go to meetings
And work a programme
And really get a good foundation in my recovery
I haven't been to a meeting in a few months now
And once I stop going
It's really very hard to go back
And the longer you leave it
The harder it becomes
I met a girl this morning from the meetings
I chatted to her for a while
It was nice
I could see the recovery in her
And hear it in her voice
I want that
I want that peace of mind
That confidence
And contentment
I haven't been in touch with any of my friends since before I went away
It's a bit of a sad fact
That my online social life
Is a lot more active than my real live one
I've had to deal with a lot of cravings recently
On holidays
It was smoking
I was dying for a cigarette
As everyone in Turkey seems to smoke
And I've also been having a lot of using dreams
They are always the same
The same people
The same scenario
It's so vivid
And do real
That when I wake up I'm in a cold sweat
I saw a show recently about methadone users in Dublin
It was lazy journalism if you ask me
They didn't report from outside Dublin
And all the participants were stereotypical drug addicts
Junkies
I think sometimes people in this country forget that there is life beyond Dublin
I think I wrote about having a drink on the plane on the way to Turkey
I don't know why I did
I saw others drinking
And I wanted one too
This was the third instance that I have taken a drink in recent times
But
As I always suspected
I don't like the effect that alcohol has on me
I'm a horrible drunk
I talk complete bullshit
And either become really annoying
Or really emotional
No
I think it's safe to say that I can't hold my drink
I think also the thing I don't like about drink and drugs
Is that it's not real
Anything you feel
You say
You do while under the influence is not real
It's all fake
The friendships
The relationships
The conversations
None of it is real
When I was using heroin
I hung around in a particular group of people
We had nothing in common
Only the drug
We had nothing to say to each other
Until after we took the drug
Then we acted like best friends
There is no loyalty in addiction
Who ever you are with that day is your best buddy
Until the drug wears off
And then you are back to being strangers again
I know that I can't use or drink
Even now and again
As with a lot of things with me
It's all or nothing
Black or white
This post really is to let you know that I'm not giving up
Not just yet anyway
I have come too far to turn back now
And I've now seen what life could be like for me
If I persevere in my recovery
Over that last week
I just wanted to fall apart
To just lie down and let my ED and addiction wash over me
And consume me
But I won't let that happen if I can help it
I will continue to fight
Continue you to seek a better life
For me and my family
Since I started writing my blog three and a half years ago
Amazing things have happened
I've won awards
I've met the most amazing people
Who I now call friends
I've participated in studies
Helped students with projects
And more recently was contacted by a magazine to write an article
More of which to come
I've been contacted by people from all over the world
People who are also suffering
Concerned family members
Friends
My blog has been an amazingly strong force for good in my life
And I am so grateful for that
As we all know
There is strength in numbers
And I truly believe that by joining forces together
We can put up a resistance to mental health issues
And addiction
I guess sometimes
I can get a little overwhelmed by my situation
Writing that piece for the magazine
It brought me back to my past
And the reasons I turned to drugs and food
It can all seem like too much when I condense it like that
I suppose I feel like I am at a disadvantage a lot of the time
I have had to fight tooth and nail
To get to the point where most people start off
I struggle just to get through the day
Without completely losing my mind
Or my marbles
I try my best every day
To be the best version of myself that I can be
I've come a long way in the last year
But there is much work to be done
I am trying though
And with the help of my family
I know I will get there
I also wanted to say thank you
To you my little blogger family
For being there
Every single step of the way
For believing in me
When I didn't believe in myself
For reading
For commenting
For emailing and texting
You have been nothing short of amazing
And I love and treasure every one of you
So if you are feeling low today
If you feel like hope is slipping away
That you are so tired of holding on
Of fighting
Of trying to be well
I want to urge you to keep going
I promise you
Things can and will get better
All we have to do is deal with this day
24 hours
Anything is possible in that space of time
Our whole lives can transform in the space of a day
The important thing is to keep putting one foot in front of the other
And keep going
Do what you have to do to stay well
Take time for yourself
Put yourself first
Be kind to you
And gentle
Because you are worth it
And you deserve to be as well as you can
So please
Today
If you do one thing
Say to yourself
I'm exactly where I am supposed to be
Because you are
We all are
We are good people
Yes you too
You are a good person
And you deserve to be well and happy
We all do
So please
Do this today
You won't regret it
I promise you