Stories | Movable: Narratives of Recovery and Place

I’m still growing, but I do not fight addiction anymore. It’s been conquered in the blood of Jesus and through my testimony.

Paul Bell
I am proud of who I have become. I am proud of being an active member of society. I have a job now. I’ve served meals at the city mission as a reminder of where I don’t want to put myself again.

Anonymous
If I didn’t share my story for the next person who was walking in my shoes, people might forget to dream, to have hope, to have friends. I used to push everybody out. Now, I want those things.

Anonymous
I just feel like anything you go through in addiction can be overcome with recovery. They always say that your best day in addiction is still worse than your worst day in recovery, because it’s still a bad day. And I had to forgive myself, I had to ask for forgiveness from others, but you can overcome it and everything does get better.

Brook
What we go through makes us the people we are today. It turns us into strong people. You can be open and not regret what you’ve been through. It’s important to talk about your struggles and work the steps. You can be free again.

Anonymous
I have so much freedom in my life today, and I'm genuinely happy. I'm able to be a mom. I'm able to be a friend. I'm able to be a girlfriend. I'm able to be a daughter, a sister, a niece, a granddaughter; I'm able to be all of those things today. And if it wasn't for God, and the fellowship of AA, and these steps and my sponsor and everything, I wouldn't have all of this.

Jessica S.
I've now achieved seven years in recovery and it has been a major blessing beyond anything I could've imagined when I was hopeless—drowning in despair, guilt, and shame. I began feeling peace, hope, and pure joy. The changes I experienced fueled a desire of giving hope and sharing with others the miracle of recovery that God blessed me with.

Karen Dominick
I don’t know where I’ll end up just yet, but I know it’s a good long-term goal to complete school and get my degree. The one person I got really close to in the program here showed me how important and valuable education is. It can be a tool to give back eventually, and the higher the degree I get, the more opportunities there will be to give back.

Anonymous
I’ve learned that I have to accept what my situation is, whether I’m in a bad financial position or something else, I just have to be able to accept it and strive for better.

Anonymous
I think it’s very important to start working with children at a young age and start addressing certain problems, especially with mental disorders and diseases. I suffered from them when I was a kid and didn’t get them addressed; they were kind of pushed to the side.

Anonymous
I guess the best thing I can do is lead by example. Keep changing for the better more and more every day, keep in contact with those people, and just try to lead by example, like I said, get them to make the right decisions, not because someone told them to but because they can see that there is a better way; that there is a light.

Bryce C.
It is my personal mission to be a face, voice, and light of hope for recovery every day I am on this earth. What I have discovered from this journey of recovery is how to trust in my faith, love others, love myself, and be present in the moment.

Honesty Liller
I started out my recovery with service and carrying a message that an addict—any addict—can stop using drugs, can lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. Today I’m really grateful for the opportunity to get to continue to carry that message into recovery homes: a light into darkness.

Jennie Hill
Just by having faith and putting my all into it and doing what is uncomfortable, I’ve been able to have a life where I can help others that are also going through the same struggles as I am and have a family, and actually love my life and be happy about it.

Anna Holley
I have true friends today, like genuine friends that love and care about me.

Megen
I am a grateful recovering alcoholic and addict. That is not my identity today. Today, I'm a father. Today, I’m a husband. Today, I'm able to be a son to my mother and my father. I get to live life in a way that I’ve never been able to experience before.

Joe Young
I hope that anybody listening that's still suffering—if you need anything, reach out to me. This is what keeps me sober is by helping other people. I cannot keep what I have if I don't give it away.

Bernard Slater Jr.
My stepmom said, last week, “If you get through this quarantine thing without using, I’m really gonna start thinking that you might not.” And I was like, “Don’t say that!” She was like, “I cannot believe all the things that you have endured.” There really have been a lot, but my life is so awesome. I’ve put in a lot of work. I’ve never stopped.

Rachel Thaxton
It’s not gonna be just the recovery people that fix this or just the lawmakers that fix this. We’re gonna have to do it together. Some walls need to come down on every side of things. And spark some compassion out there, amongst all of us, and listen to each other. And then, you know, I really think we’ll come out of this.

Shanna McClure
I don’t always get it right, but I stay vigilant and work a program and stay involved and help people. The message is hope, and the promise is freedom. And I truly believe that. Hope is the last thing to go.

Drew Pinkney

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