Member-only story
Why My Third Year Of Sobriety Has Been The Most Challenging So Far
We’re All Just Earth Suits Passing By On This Train Of Life
A lost, lonely boy,
the battle with my
demons began.
Through the eyes
of a troubled teenager,
addictions I ran.
I’m sixteen years old in the hospital with a tube down my throat and charcoal teeth after being dared to drink a thirty-rack of Budweiser. Alcohol poisoning isn’t acceptable at a young age, so on Wednesday, I went to a teenage group therapy session with substance abuse counselors for one of my classes.
I enter the session embarrassed as I look around and see others like me.
I smile and think, “all my life, I thought I was an outsider, but now I realize I’m not alone.”
I sit in silence, listening and observing the stories of kids I desperately wanted to be like. From drugs and alcohol to prescription pills, everyone in the room represented a broken relationship with themselves and a powerless addiction to make life seem more manageable.
The counselor says, “George, you had quite an eventful weekend. Do you see how addiction starts and ends with pain?”
