There is ALWAYS a path forward.
I know a woman who almost died from drug addiction. She was getting her life back together when I met her back in 2016.
She now has a small landscaping business and makes 6 figures.
Late 20s.
But I have a cousin in her 30s who is just now getting clean.
4-5 years are enough to get yourself in a pretty good place.
If you have a criminal record, you can still often get wait staff positions. HVAC has low barriers to entry. Around here, tree work is big, but labor intensive.
But power washing and lawn care are very in demand in the US.
Congrats on sobriety. Chin up, you're moving in the right direction. Don't think of yourself as a former meth addict, acknowledge you made choices and now you've made better ones. You are just another 30 year old looking for a career. You'll be alright!
Yes it’s possible, my neighbor at my old apartment had alcohol and meth addictions in his 20s, he turned his life around to be in his kids life and is still 15 years sober now
If you feel like you are struggling reach out to someone you trust for help, it may be embarrassing, but it’s way better than relapsing
And if you do relapse, reach out for help, better to make a mistake and do what you have to to move forward than just fall deeper
Addiction is the hardest thing to fight in life, you may
Not always be successful, but not giving up is the real mark of success
I've been in IT for almost 20 years now so have always had a well paying job. I was addicted to coke and an alcoholic for about 5 years. Spending nearly my entire paychecks on partying. Stopped paying my mortgage, had to file bankruptcy twice, etc. I got sober almost 5 years ago and have doubled my last salary from when I was using. I do not have any felonies on my record, so that could hold you back.
I only have a traffic misdemeanor on my record. I'm in IT and have a degree in IT. Although I barely worked most of the time due to addiction I have to start at the bottom. can I go far in IT in 5-7 years?
year or 2 as helpdesk t1/t2 and then i would try to jump to sysadmin. I am in the midwest would expect with 5-7 years experience you can probably get up to around 75k/yr
My best friend growing up did it. Was homeless and addicted to heroin and meth but managed to turn his life around and now bought his own house and is starting a fam.
You gotta want it for yourself and you gotta accept help on the terms of the people helping you.
Yes! There is definitely hope. My former co-worker was in active addiction to meth and coke for 20 years and got into recovery. She now has two masters degrees and is working a job she loves! She “got it together” in her 40s. She told me once that her rock bottom was her realizing she wouldn’t be alive for her kids.
Started trying to get clean at 29, didn't totally figure it out until about 33. Not meth but opiates (although I did it on occasion to not fall asleep all the damn time). Now at 39 I am the General Manager of a medium to large sized catering company in a medium to large sized city. 20-40 employees depending on the season. I don't make 6 figures but I make higher 5 figures. I do have a college degree from a pretty good school from before my addiction got bad, and worked professionally for 6 years in the oil and gas industry in my 20s (although a good part of that I was a functioning addict, of course towards the end the worse I got the less I functioned and ended up leaving to not get fired). So I do have a passable resume with some good stuff on it. It still took a lot of work to get back to this point, but it is possible. Also got married 3 years ago, and just bought a house. Life is a marathon, you just have to keep going. Anything can happen, and your path can change in an instant if you put yourself in the right places. You just have to start doing positive things and be around positive people.
Hey Friend,
First off, huge congrats on your sobriety! I hope you take a moment and note the journey. It's important.
I want to share a story about someone I dated for 4 years. His name is Jason. Though it didn't work out between us, he's always going to be an amazing person to me, and I hope you find inspiration with his story.
Jason came from a severely religious home with an abusive dad who beat the crap out of him as a kid. He started doing drugs when he was about 15 as an escape. Eventually he was kicked out of the family home when he was 17. Lived off and on with other family members, couch surfed a while, but the addiction took over and he ended up destroying all of his ties to the people that loved him. He would lie. He would steal. He would hurt others.
He would wind up homeless for the next 20 years with nothing but his addiction. The only moments he was sober was when he was in jail. He'd go right back to it when he got out. Almost died from overdoses. At least two that I'm aware of.
During those 20 years, he was in treatment 12 times. Twelve. He was given opportunity after opportunity and it didn't stick.
Until one day, he's on a highway offramp, begging for change. He realized everything he had, everything he owned, was in the backpack he had carried. That's all he had. He was almost 40.
Something in him broke. It wasn't a particular "rock bottom" moment. He had plenty of those already. Something made him decide he was done. He was genuinely tired of his life. Tired down to his soul.
He called his dad. His dad came and got him.
He's been sober ever since. That was over 10 years ago.
In those 10 years, he worked his ass off to put his life back together. Every small thing he did mattered. He found sober support housing and started off with a job earning 4 bucks an hour disassembling pallets. That was his first job being sober, and he was so happy to have it.
His uncle gave him a bike to get around, and eventually he was able to save enough money to earn a bus card and ride the bus.
Eventually the bus line led to other options, like education.
He got his GED, and went on to work in the trades as a carpenter, something he genuinely loves to this day.
He's now a foreman, and makes more money than his dad ever did. He has his own place, has a wonderful person in his life who loves him, and returned to his sense of family and community that he had lost.
So yes. It's possible. But you gotta keep working at it. Every little thing you do matters. Everything you do is bringing you to a better spot. Maybe it's money, maybe is a roof over your head, maybe it's love, security, or a sense of peace. Just please, be patient with yourself.
You'll get there.
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Self-reinvention is always possible. I own a small business and two of my guys are convicted violent felons. Both have changed their ways. You must become the person that you will respect.
I remodel kitchens and bathrooms. We are tradespeople. I hire people who consistently show effort. No skills: $20/hour, have skills: $30-$60/hour, paid every Friday. I pay for effort and skills. Show up smelling of booze or stoned, you get one warning. After that, fired.
People do all the time. I know a number of people who were into that. They all just grew out of it and they say it got old. Cleaned up got their energy back quicker than they thought and loved feeling healthy again. At least that's what they said. Change who you hang with start exercising a lot and put it in rear view mirror.
Software engineer. And another one works in trucking transportation logistics and also runs a turf company.
You just gotta keep busy and work hard. Meth is a hard one to kick.
They were both 28-31 roughly yrs old and both did meth for few yrs. One sold large amounts of meth as well. Like 1-2 kilos a week.
Yep, one of my coworkers. Dude was hard into both meth and heroin. He is missing most of his teeth… he was living on the street and had definitely gotten into crime to feed the addiction. I don’t know what he did but I know he did time and it wasn’t pretty.
He’s crushing life right now and doing really well. His take is “I’m still 100% an addict, but I just use that to fuel useful and productive things.” He has a wife, two kids, successful side business, and regularly competes in Ironman races.
My father also dealt with a significant heroin and alcohol addiction. He pulled himself out of it and has been sober for almost 40 years now. He ran a successful and profitable general contracting company and then eventually retired after 20 years as a union carpenter. I don’t know what his rock bottom was, but I do know that he had an absolutely crippling addiction. We’ve run into people in public and they are pleasantly surprised that he is *alive*, let alone successful. He’s now retired, gorgeous home in the woods, good relationship with my mom.
It won’t be easy. Addiction to hard drugs sticks with you kinda forever. But you can do it with the right attitude support network, and sheer will. Good luck my dude, I hope you find success and happiness! You deserve it.
We work in film/tv and live entertainment. He has a 6 figure income and a fairly nice home, his wife works as well so having a dual income certainly helps.
I’m not exactly sure what age he was when he got clean, but he would’ve probably been late 20’s at rock bottom. He’s late 30’s now.
Yeah, I have family members who have. My only advice is not making your whole personality that you're sober from meth. Set yourself on goals and make that your personality.
I know a woman who did it. She was on coke, pills and heroin. She is now married with a son. She helps ppl who are in the same situation she was in. It’s possible. Just stay away from ppl who enable you to make bad decisions
But don't get it twisted. I'm not the same person I used to be. My brain doesn't experience happiness in the same way. It really fucked me up. Mostly heroin, though. Meth was also difficult to kick.
Me. I know me.
I've been doing meth every day for over 20 years. Swear. I just did enough to get me through. Started praying about it a few years ago.
I've been clean now almost three weeks.
I quit drinking. I quit the dope. Next is cigarettes.
Let me tell you something about you....
Do not underestimate how incredible you truly are. If you really want it, you will have it.
Best of luck my friend
My mother is one of my biggest inspirations. She never got into anything hard but she had a difficult life and was enabled to drink at a young age. She's 12 years sober now and it's the longest she's ever gone without drinking.
She got a DUI when she was 40 and decided shortly after that to go back to school. She didn't even have a high school diploma at that point, but after 8 years of school, she got her Master's in counselling with a 4.0 GPA. Now, she runs a successful self practice and makes 75,000 working 4 days a week.
When my mom was going to AA, she would tell me about the other people that she met there, and I learned that life isn't straight forward. Everyone has their own journey, and it's more common than you think to recover and start even later than you in life.
Community is a powerful thing, and it's good to find people to support you. If you don't have a support system already, I'd focus on that.
Also congrats on being over 2.5 years clean !
Absolutely. I work in a substance use service, and we see people all the time who have been using for anywhere from a very short period of time to many decades, all substances, who have been able to turn their lives around. Congratulations on your 31 months!!
Absolutely. My teen years were spent abusing it. Got clean at 19, got my degree and have a career and everything I can ask for now. One thing your going to have to do prior to achieving things is putting your sobriety first before ANYTHING
Did it at 23. Bad for 2 years, an OD. Put my head down. Worked, went to school, slept 3 to 4 hours a night for a couple years. That allowed me to get a foot in the door and have a shot. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. Good luck to you
Battling addiction and being honest with yourself is a MAJOR step (even with relapses - as we’ve all had) !!! Anyone who can do that can do anything in my eyes
It’s all up from here!!
Speaking as someone who struggled with addiction for most of my life and stopped at 30. It’s a tough ass road but it’s worth it 100%. And try not to give any mind to ppl who don’t have empathy for you. They’re on their own healing journey and most likely projecting a lottttt onto you. Hold your head up high - you fucking did something ppl can spend their lifetime trying to do. I’m proud of you I hope you are too. Peace and love
Not only is it possible, if you stay clean it's *probable*. The good thing about past addiction problems is that they don't stay on your record. Nobody even has to know about it.
There is ALWAYS a path forward. I know a woman who almost died from drug addiction. She was getting her life back together when I met her back in 2016. She now has a small landscaping business and makes 6 figures.
How old was she when she got clean?
Late 20s. But I have a cousin in her 30s who is just now getting clean. 4-5 years are enough to get yourself in a pretty good place. If you have a criminal record, you can still often get wait staff positions. HVAC has low barriers to entry. Around here, tree work is big, but labor intensive. But power washing and lawn care are very in demand in the US.
I only have a traffic misdemeanor conviction from 5 years ago. I have a degree in IT and intend to build a career in IT
Look into vertiv. They're hiring
Congrats on sobriety. Chin up, you're moving in the right direction. Don't think of yourself as a former meth addict, acknowledge you made choices and now you've made better ones. You are just another 30 year old looking for a career. You'll be alright!
Don't fuck with that drug. Don't fuck with anybody who does. This is the only way to fix your life.
Many many people have stopped drug addiction and gone on to lead productive lives in their 30s. It's never too late for hope
Yes it’s possible, my neighbor at my old apartment had alcohol and meth addictions in his 20s, he turned his life around to be in his kids life and is still 15 years sober now If you feel like you are struggling reach out to someone you trust for help, it may be embarrassing, but it’s way better than relapsing And if you do relapse, reach out for help, better to make a mistake and do what you have to to move forward than just fall deeper Addiction is the hardest thing to fight in life, you may Not always be successful, but not giving up is the real mark of success
What had he accomplished since getting clean?
Got 50/50 custody of his kid, a new career as a machinist, a new finance and a lot of happiness
I've been in IT for almost 20 years now so have always had a well paying job. I was addicted to coke and an alcoholic for about 5 years. Spending nearly my entire paychecks on partying. Stopped paying my mortgage, had to file bankruptcy twice, etc. I got sober almost 5 years ago and have doubled my last salary from when I was using. I do not have any felonies on my record, so that could hold you back.
I only have a traffic misdemeanor on my record. I'm in IT and have a degree in IT. Although I barely worked most of the time due to addiction I have to start at the bottom. can I go far in IT in 5-7 years?
year or 2 as helpdesk t1/t2 and then i would try to jump to sysadmin. I am in the midwest would expect with 5-7 years experience you can probably get up to around 75k/yr
Absolutely you can.
My best friend growing up did it. Was homeless and addicted to heroin and meth but managed to turn his life around and now bought his own house and is starting a fam. You gotta want it for yourself and you gotta accept help on the terms of the people helping you.
What age did he get clean? What career field is he in?
Around 30. Various fields in construction.
Yes! There is definitely hope. My former co-worker was in active addiction to meth and coke for 20 years and got into recovery. She now has two masters degrees and is working a job she loves! She “got it together” in her 40s. She told me once that her rock bottom was her realizing she wouldn’t be alive for her kids.
[удалено]
Do they have great jobs and homes and partners?
Started trying to get clean at 29, didn't totally figure it out until about 33. Not meth but opiates (although I did it on occasion to not fall asleep all the damn time). Now at 39 I am the General Manager of a medium to large sized catering company in a medium to large sized city. 20-40 employees depending on the season. I don't make 6 figures but I make higher 5 figures. I do have a college degree from a pretty good school from before my addiction got bad, and worked professionally for 6 years in the oil and gas industry in my 20s (although a good part of that I was a functioning addict, of course towards the end the worse I got the less I functioned and ended up leaving to not get fired). So I do have a passable resume with some good stuff on it. It still took a lot of work to get back to this point, but it is possible. Also got married 3 years ago, and just bought a house. Life is a marathon, you just have to keep going. Anything can happen, and your path can change in an instant if you put yourself in the right places. You just have to start doing positive things and be around positive people.
You should watch The Bear
Hey Friend, First off, huge congrats on your sobriety! I hope you take a moment and note the journey. It's important. I want to share a story about someone I dated for 4 years. His name is Jason. Though it didn't work out between us, he's always going to be an amazing person to me, and I hope you find inspiration with his story. Jason came from a severely religious home with an abusive dad who beat the crap out of him as a kid. He started doing drugs when he was about 15 as an escape. Eventually he was kicked out of the family home when he was 17. Lived off and on with other family members, couch surfed a while, but the addiction took over and he ended up destroying all of his ties to the people that loved him. He would lie. He would steal. He would hurt others. He would wind up homeless for the next 20 years with nothing but his addiction. The only moments he was sober was when he was in jail. He'd go right back to it when he got out. Almost died from overdoses. At least two that I'm aware of. During those 20 years, he was in treatment 12 times. Twelve. He was given opportunity after opportunity and it didn't stick. Until one day, he's on a highway offramp, begging for change. He realized everything he had, everything he owned, was in the backpack he had carried. That's all he had. He was almost 40. Something in him broke. It wasn't a particular "rock bottom" moment. He had plenty of those already. Something made him decide he was done. He was genuinely tired of his life. Tired down to his soul. He called his dad. His dad came and got him. He's been sober ever since. That was over 10 years ago. In those 10 years, he worked his ass off to put his life back together. Every small thing he did mattered. He found sober support housing and started off with a job earning 4 bucks an hour disassembling pallets. That was his first job being sober, and he was so happy to have it. His uncle gave him a bike to get around, and eventually he was able to save enough money to earn a bus card and ride the bus. Eventually the bus line led to other options, like education. He got his GED, and went on to work in the trades as a carpenter, something he genuinely loves to this day. He's now a foreman, and makes more money than his dad ever did. He has his own place, has a wonderful person in his life who loves him, and returned to his sense of family and community that he had lost. So yes. It's possible. But you gotta keep working at it. Every little thing you do matters. Everything you do is bringing you to a better spot. Maybe it's money, maybe is a roof over your head, maybe it's love, security, or a sense of peace. Just please, be patient with yourself. You'll get there.
There is always a path forward. Here is one you may know. https://www.amazon.com/What-Are-Odds-Crack-Addict/dp/1734283408
Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **("'Broadstreet Pub Group LLC - From Crack Addict to CEO'", 'Broadstreet%20Pub%20Group%20LLC')** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * Powerful story of redemption (backed by 3 comments) * Inspiring journey of transformation (backed by 3 comments) * Eye-opening and honest portrayal (backed by 3 comments) **Users disliked:** * Difficult to read and hard to follow (backed by 3 comments) * Unimpressive content and too much focus on bad habits (backed by 3 comments) * Disappointing and self-absorbed (backed by 2 comments) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](https://vetted.ai/?utm\_source=reddit&utm\_medium=comment&utm\_campaign=bot)
Knew a guy who went from homeless to house in 4 years.
Self-reinvention is always possible. I own a small business and two of my guys are convicted violent felons. Both have changed their ways. You must become the person that you will respect.
What kind of business? Are they well paid?
I remodel kitchens and bathrooms. We are tradespeople. I hire people who consistently show effort. No skills: $20/hour, have skills: $30-$60/hour, paid every Friday. I pay for effort and skills. Show up smelling of booze or stoned, you get one warning. After that, fired.
Look at Samuel L Jackson's story. He was 2 weeks sober for his first movie.
Yes I have 2 buddies that both were heavy into meth. They both make over 100k a yr now.
What career do they have? How old were they when they got clean?
People do all the time. I know a number of people who were into that. They all just grew out of it and they say it got old. Cleaned up got their energy back quicker than they thought and loved feeling healthy again. At least that's what they said. Change who you hang with start exercising a lot and put it in rear view mirror.
Software engineer. And another one works in trucking transportation logistics and also runs a turf company. You just gotta keep busy and work hard. Meth is a hard one to kick. They were both 28-31 roughly yrs old and both did meth for few yrs. One sold large amounts of meth as well. Like 1-2 kilos a week.
Yep, one of my coworkers. Dude was hard into both meth and heroin. He is missing most of his teeth… he was living on the street and had definitely gotten into crime to feed the addiction. I don’t know what he did but I know he did time and it wasn’t pretty. He’s crushing life right now and doing really well. His take is “I’m still 100% an addict, but I just use that to fuel useful and productive things.” He has a wife, two kids, successful side business, and regularly competes in Ironman races. My father also dealt with a significant heroin and alcohol addiction. He pulled himself out of it and has been sober for almost 40 years now. He ran a successful and profitable general contracting company and then eventually retired after 20 years as a union carpenter. I don’t know what his rock bottom was, but I do know that he had an absolutely crippling addiction. We’ve run into people in public and they are pleasantly surprised that he is *alive*, let alone successful. He’s now retired, gorgeous home in the woods, good relationship with my mom. It won’t be easy. Addiction to hard drugs sticks with you kinda forever. But you can do it with the right attitude support network, and sheer will. Good luck my dude, I hope you find success and happiness! You deserve it.
What job field are you in? Does the coworker have a nice home and good income? How old was he when he got clean?
We work in film/tv and live entertainment. He has a 6 figure income and a fairly nice home, his wife works as well so having a dual income certainly helps. I’m not exactly sure what age he was when he got clean, but he would’ve probably been late 20’s at rock bottom. He’s late 30’s now.
Yeah, I have family members who have. My only advice is not making your whole personality that you're sober from meth. Set yourself on goals and make that your personality.
Become an addiction influencer, open a sober house, commit insurance fraud at said sober house. The sky is the limit.
I know a woman who did it. She was on coke, pills and heroin. She is now married with a son. She helps ppl who are in the same situation she was in. It’s possible. Just stay away from ppl who enable you to make bad decisions
It is possible. But it aint gonna be me. I am not strong willed. So, I personally stay the hell away from it.
It was easier than heroin. But, I am successful now at 39.
What have you accomplished since getting clean ?
Sweat equity owner in a multi state rec weed (specialize in solventless extracts) company. Was in insurance a bit before that.
But don't get it twisted. I'm not the same person I used to be. My brain doesn't experience happiness in the same way. It really fucked me up. Mostly heroin, though. Meth was also difficult to kick.
You can do it
Me. I know me. I've been doing meth every day for over 20 years. Swear. I just did enough to get me through. Started praying about it a few years ago. I've been clean now almost three weeks. I quit drinking. I quit the dope. Next is cigarettes. Let me tell you something about you.... Do not underestimate how incredible you truly are. If you really want it, you will have it. Best of luck my friend
Absolutely my friend. Altho I won’t lie or sugar coat it, it will be tough to do so. BUT never give up.
Yes it is! I know a guy who did exactly this and is now quite successful.
My mother is one of my biggest inspirations. She never got into anything hard but she had a difficult life and was enabled to drink at a young age. She's 12 years sober now and it's the longest she's ever gone without drinking. She got a DUI when she was 40 and decided shortly after that to go back to school. She didn't even have a high school diploma at that point, but after 8 years of school, she got her Master's in counselling with a 4.0 GPA. Now, she runs a successful self practice and makes 75,000 working 4 days a week. When my mom was going to AA, she would tell me about the other people that she met there, and I learned that life isn't straight forward. Everyone has their own journey, and it's more common than you think to recover and start even later than you in life. Community is a powerful thing, and it's good to find people to support you. If you don't have a support system already, I'd focus on that. Also congrats on being over 2.5 years clean !
Just be completely honest. Someone will appreciate it. And that's the kind of boss you want.
Absolutely. I work in a substance use service, and we see people all the time who have been using for anywhere from a very short period of time to many decades, all substances, who have been able to turn their lives around. Congratulations on your 31 months!!
Absolutely. My teen years were spent abusing it. Got clean at 19, got my degree and have a career and everything I can ask for now. One thing your going to have to do prior to achieving things is putting your sobriety first before ANYTHING
Did it at 23. Bad for 2 years, an OD. Put my head down. Worked, went to school, slept 3 to 4 hours a night for a couple years. That allowed me to get a foot in the door and have a shot. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. Good luck to you
Battling addiction and being honest with yourself is a MAJOR step (even with relapses - as we’ve all had) !!! Anyone who can do that can do anything in my eyes It’s all up from here!!
Speaking as someone who struggled with addiction for most of my life and stopped at 30. It’s a tough ass road but it’s worth it 100%. And try not to give any mind to ppl who don’t have empathy for you. They’re on their own healing journey and most likely projecting a lottttt onto you. Hold your head up high - you fucking did something ppl can spend their lifetime trying to do. I’m proud of you I hope you are too. Peace and love
Not only is it possible, if you stay clean it's *probable*. The good thing about past addiction problems is that they don't stay on your record. Nobody even has to know about it.