The journey to discover who we really are begins with knowing who we are not. I’m not the guy I used to be, I’m not the guy that doesn’t care about my life anymore, I’m definitely not the guy that doesn’t show up to face life on life’s terms. The beauty of life is the ability of it to change, we may not be able to change our pasts but we do have control over our future. I once feared change, I ran from it, or so I believed. I really wasn’t running at all, burying my head in the sand doesn’t work. Life continues on with or without our participation, and we really only add to our misery by not participating in it. I chose to get sober and I choose to remain sober because I’m not the guy that wants to waste another day of my life. I value me today, on drugs or alcohol I didn’t, ‘drunk me’ or ‘high me’ wasn’t a good person, i was self-destructive, toxic to everyone around me. Ok so who am I today? What is my definition of success? It’s not fame or fortune that motivates me, being rich or popular doesn’t keep me sober. My addiction would love for me to embrace those things that I once valued. Each of us have our own definitions of success, maybe you believe more money is the key to your happiness, maybe it’s a family thing or health thing? Answer me this, what do you pray for? Wealth? Health? Family? We find out what’s really important to us, what really motivates us. I pray for the courage, wisdom and strength to help others. That’s me. My success is to be judged at the end of my life when everything I’ve done is laid out in front of me. The good, the bad and the freakin ugly. People may judge us by what they think they know about us and that’s their right. Maybe my life doesn’t fit perfectly into their own definition of success and that’s ok. You should be ok with them judging you too, they may never walk the path we traveled (I pray they don’t) and they may not ever have to start from ground zero to rebuild their own life, and to those that have done that or are doing that, you are my heroes. If nobody has told you this, I’m freaking proud to call you my brothers and sisters. Keep leading the way!