I Felt Empowered and Free at the Salton Sea

Yesterday I went on an adventure on the way back to LA from Phoenix. I’d pulled off the 10 to get gas and saw signs to the Salton Sea. I had never been there before and had no idea what it was so I figured, what the hay? Might as well. I followed the road off into the desert and came upon the sea. I was so surprised to see such a huge body of water pop into sight that I just started laughing out loud by myself in the car. It was amazing. I pulled into the state park and got out of my car. No one was around and I just sat on my hood watching the pelicans float around. It energized my spirit and I felt perfectly free and happy in that moment.
I don’t know what possessed me to wander off my route to see the Salton Sea, but I know for sure that I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t clean and sober. When I was using, I was so terrified to do anything new or different. Even in sobriety, I have a lot of anxiety, but to me the best solution is action. I was a little timid about going off into the desert alone on a Sunday, but after I took the action regardless of my feelings, I felt empowered and free. I think I am going to do things like that more often, because sitting in front of that strange body of water in the silent middle of nowhere, I felt alive. If youd like to feel alive again please contact us at adolescent drug treatment.

Teen Drug Help

Yesterday was the memorial for my friend who overdosed. I am sick of going to memorials. I am sick of watching people I love get caught up in using again and die. I don’t want to go to any more funerals. I’m not big on quoting recovery literature, but there is a line from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that always comes to mind when I think about my friends who are caught up in active addiction: People like you are too heartbreaking.
It is easy to get discouraged. Getting clean and sober in Palo Alto is hard work. When I entered teen drug treatment, I was never promised an easy road, but I was promised a better life. It is hard to work through difficult feelings. It is hard watching people go in and out of recovery. It is hard watching people die. The thing that sticks with me though, is that no one ever gave up on me. When I was in drug treatment and threw tantrums or resisted change as much as possible, no one gave up on me. No one told me I wouldn’t stay clean. The odds were stacked against me, but no one ever told me I couldn’t do it. Instead, the staff at Visions let me know on a daily basis that I could stay clean and have a better life. It took a while to believe them, but I am so glad they never gave up on me. They always believed in me. So even though I feel really discouraged this week, and really sad about my friend dying, I’m not going to give up on recovery. I’m not going to give up on my friends who are struggling right now. No one gave up on me, so I can’t give up on them. This is a difficult journey sometimes, but with the foundation I got in adolescent drug treatment, I can do anything.