Im new here. Ive been clean for 17 years and counting
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Welcome to the community! I am sure your years of wisdom will help a lot of people.
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Wow! Welcome and congrats on some serious clean time!!
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Welcome!
You’re longevity is a genuine inspiration. Thanks for being here🙂
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Welcome Staci. I am certain you have some wisdom to share with us. Glad you’re here.
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That’s awesome! Any “pearls of wisdom for us “newbies”. I am new here as well! So welcome 
aboard. This site has given me “different ways to think”. Someone posted the other day:
“Would you rather be right?
OR “Be at peace 
“. I had a situation with my daughter. I gracefully asked myself this!
I chose peace 
. I will be at peace with my decision! Thank you all for your input!
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Wow on the 17 years of recovery!!! Congratulations 
and welcome!
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Welcome to TS!
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Thank you everyone. Its not easy but its doable. The drug (Crack) eased the hurt, the pain, the depression . Everything bad disappeared but so did my soul. The years sliped away. I found myself in a dark place. I missed so much. But one day I was in a motel room. With people that i met in the “drug world” dirty wearing the same cloths that i had on for days. Sitting on a dirty floor weighing all of maybe 95lbs. Scrapping my pipe when a friend of mine gave me an opportunity for a better life. He said we can stay here and die or we can go to my home (1500 miles away) and get clean. Of course I didnt want to go the drug had me. But i agreed if he would give me one more hit. Just one I would go. I took that hit and 5 mins later i wanted another one. What was i doing? It was a nonstop cycle. I was going to die. I had overdosed twice before but this was the end. Get clean or die no other choice. I made the right one. I left went to college got my degree. Came back after 4 year and found a job in Inpatient recovery center. I no longer work there but im hoping the time i was there helped someone. even if i got through to one person. I will never go back to the hell I lived for 17 years. I am now clean as long as i have been useing this year 4/05/23 will be 18 years. Im in therapy take medication. I found the reason i used in the first place. I beleve that we need to find the core of the problem. Mental illness comes before the addiction. I hope you all can beat this disease that we all suffer with. No matter what the addiction is. We all can help eachother.
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Thank you for sharing a piece of ur story! Very proud of you for leaving that lifestyle behind. I can relate to u, in that the state of my mental health at 15 years old was the leading cause of me doing drugs. It was a big portion also of why i stayed so sick for so long. Trauma and abuse from my lifestyle also fed into the addiction to drugs but mental health began it all i believe. I was diagnosed with a mental health issue at 21 yrs of age and have been on medication for some time now that truly helps me. At 38 now i am coming up on 1 year clean with my most recent DOC being crack cocaine. I cant wait to get to the clean time that u have. Its very inspiring that after all that clean time, that ur still helping others 
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Thank you for sharing your amazing story… I am grateful you are here. Just like you and @Butterflymoonwoman my mental illness is at the root of my addictions. I am just starting to untie the knots. I’m confident you have a lot to share and I admire your caring attitude. I look forward to hearing more from you Staci.
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