Everyone Must Know in Order to Understand
How many times did I wake up desperate, hearing the loud noise in the shelter?
There’s a lot of confusion in the morning. Most of the time, I didn’t even remember how I got there the night before. Probably drunk as a skunk.
The annoyance of bright lights on my face gave me a stronger headache. Undesirable odors and bitter faces.
And I’m not pretending to talk badly about the place.
Thank God there are places for the homeless to rest their heads. What would happen to us if we had to sleep all the time on the street?
After having normally lived in my own apartment, sharing a place with hundreds of individuals was chaos for my mind.
Having to follow the rules and regulations imposed by the place, it feels a bit like the incarcerated environment. Continuous friction could explode at any moment.
And then…out onto the street, to the continuous fight for survival. Not that it’s a jungle out there. Well…that’s how it feels from our point of view.
After being homeless for some time, the shame of what others will say gets lost. It no longer matters if you sit down to eat on the sidewalk or sleep behind a dumpster.
Our world seems to be on pause. Our perception of reality is numb. Options are out of reach. The only thing left is to make it through the day.
As they say on the street,
“Another day in paradise.”— Phil Collins
No matter where we go, they’ll kick us out of any place. This is when the feeling of rejection from society begins to be felt.
And it’s not that we are bad people; we just fell into a condition that is hard to repair. Whether it was self-induced, carelessness, or irresponsibility, we fell into a spiral of despair.
No matter how much we struggle to restore our lives, it’s a steep climb where you take two steps upwards and fall right back down.
And we completely fall into the claws of addiction where nothing matters anymore. What people will say or how we’re going to die.
But let’s think about something…
Somewhere, there’s a mother crying for her lost child, a helpless spouse, or abandoned children hoping that we will come back someday.
I gradually fell into the drinking cycle that brought me down to my knees. Wake up with a hangover, relieved my condition with alcohol, and returned to the initial state of drunkenness.
Others fall lower by taking stronger drugs. Crack, heroin, and amphetamines.
The physical and psychological condition begins to degrade.
Slavery to addictions, the homeless system, and the reaction of society mark the final stage.
Many lives are lost along the way. Very few find recovery.
This goes beyond just fate or chance to be able to survive. It takes a superhuman effort not to give up, even if you get caught in the midst of the worst storm.
There are shelters to rest and sleep, recovery programs, and therapeutic help that can guide us to find the way out of that situation. But no one but the person has to fight to find help and get out of that state.
To give hope and encouragement…
How did I get away?
After many attempts and failures, slips and falls. I managed to hold on to something I didn’t want to let go of, “Faith in my heart. It was like finding a lifeboat in the middle of the sea.”
I abstained from alcohol for days achieving mental clarity, which made me recognize the seriousness of my situation. And I started looking for help, like when someone is drowning and desperately wants to save their life.
I recognized the options that could help me, the paths that I should take. I took advantage of my short periods of sobriety to see the positive changes and encouraged myself to continue on the right path.
It was from there that I met people who recognized my effort and started helping me. Some with practical advice, and another got me a job and a place to get out off the streets.
Getting away from the environment helped me to progress, and I started to see a new person in me. I saw my past life get farther away.
This month, I reached five years of sobriety and have never felt like this. Full of energy, joy, and an immense desire to share writing the experience of my life. Looking for someone who can read it and benefit from it.
I can have many experiences in life. Successes and failures. But the joy of having survived homelessness and defeated alcoholism leaves a mark or a tattoo in my heart that I’ll never forget.
I’ll leave you with a clear message,
“Even when everything seems to have collapsed and you’re just waiting for the end. Life will always give you a way out and an opportunity to start again.”
There’re some who take advantage of the opportunities, and others who only see it go by.
Never be fooled by the falsehood that alcohol and drugs give. In the end, you will destroy not only your body but also the precious life that God has given you.
Share this post with someone that needs help. God will reward you!
“DIFFICULT ROADS LEAD TO BEAUTIFUL DESTINATIONS”
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