Growing up I was a seeker and had a sense of a Higher Power that today I choose to call God. As I experienced my childhood and adolescent years, however, I lost most of that hope and faith in the face of trauma and engaging in my active drug addiction and alcoholism. As I eventually “hit bottom” in my alcoholism/addiction, regularly putting myself in life threatening and demoralizing situations to get high, I wasn’t so much afraid of dying as of continuing to exist with this giant black hole in my heart, where God used to live. I believe a combination of desperation and what I now call grace (an undeserved gift) allowed me to find my recovery at 19 years old – and now can proudly say I have been sober with my 12-Step community now for over 33 years.
To read more, click here to view the full article originally posted on Thrive Global.
David got clean and sober in 1988 at the age of 19, close to death from his own struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism. Now 32+ years clean and sober, he has been consistently active in his recovery community by mentoring others, serves on recovery and youth related non-profit Boards such as LifeWorks and the West Hollywood Recovery Center, and serves on panels at institutions speaking from his own experience about recovery.
Joelene Knight, is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Grace Recovery, a sub-acute and residential treatment program located in Hollywood, California, as well as a Board Member at Awakening Recovery, a unique life-saving nonprofit that specializes in recovery homes with a long-term, 12-Step addiction solution that creates a lasting change in core beliefs and behaviors.