Not My Past. My Story.

Start By Saying..

Lets start off my saying, im one of the "junkies" you love to bash when a someone mentions addiction on social media or hear it in a conversation. I know its hard to forgive the things we do sometimes because of our addiction, but I have a question for you,
  What is the worst thing you have evsr done?
  Obviously i wont get an answer to this question, but thank about it. The thing you hate that you did. You know, that one thing that not too many people know about. Well, what if everyone knew about it? What if for the rest of your life you were labeled by that one act that you would erase in a second if you had the chance?
  That is what being an addict is like, kind of. Now, i don't feel like being an addict is the worst thing a person could be or do. You, however, feel like it is a terrible thing. Don't get me wrong: if I could erase it from my life, I would. In an instant, it would be gone, but I dont have that option. I can't even do what you do and pretend that this thing i did didnt happen. In order for me to ensure that it doesn't happen again, i have to work hard to make sure it doesnt. If I don't, my disease will tell me that it is alright if I do meth one more time & wont fall back into full blown addiction, but i will.
  Do i work hard to make sure the worst doesnt happen? Let me guess, you are thinking "addiction isnt a disease, its a choice," right? Yes, all addiction starts with a choice. The samd damn choice you made when you were young & hanging out with friends. You drank the same beer i drank. You smoked the same pot I smoked. You even tried the same line ofwhite stuff someone put in front of you at a party. You were able to walk away and not take it to the extreme. Since i have the disease, i will spend the rest of my life either struggling to stay high or fighting to stay clean.
  As childern we dont decide we would rather be a cop than an addict. You dont see kids pretending that their dolls and stuffed animals are dope sick. When is the last time you talked to a little girl and she told you she couldn't wait to grow up so she could turn tricks to feed the insatiable hunger of her addiction?
  Nobody wants to have substance use disorder. Some of us just do. So always remember, you made those same choices, too. You just got lucky it was me & not you.
  If you still have doubts that addiction is a disease, take that up with the CDC or the United States Surgeon General. They have classified addiction as a disease, but then again... I am sure that you know more about it than they do right?
  I pray that you never have to revaluate these opinions because you find our your child or spouse is an addict. If you do, just know that we will accept you into our community. We will help your loved one. Do you know why we would do that? Because we are good people who just want the chance to live like everyone else.
  So please, before you write another post bashing people who are suffering, thank about it. Not only are you hurting the people who have the disease, you could be hurting everyone who loves them. You have people on your friends list or might overhear you at work who have childern who are suffering right this moment with addiction. What did they do to deserve the awful things you put out into the universe that do nothing but perpetuate hate & judgement.
  You have a right to your opinion, but no matter what hurting people is wrong.