Hello. My Name is Nicole, and I’m an Addict

Cleaning Up the Wreckage in the Wake of Substance Abuse

A good story can start with something as simple as an introduction. In my case, it would go like this: "Hello, my name is Nicole, and I am an addict.” This is an introduction I’ve given many times before. My attendance at local AA meetings goes back a long way. It goes back nearly a Decade and a half, to be more specific.

I need to take you back… about fifteen years ago. I was in my early twenties and had no plans to pursue any career. I was lost in every sense of the word. Lost in a toxic relationship that made up much of my identity back then, lost in my selfishly indulgent ways, lost in the conviction that I already knew everything I needed to know about life.

These character flaws and bad judgement calls weren’t the only "unfortunate" elements to my story that would need to be exercised from my laundry list of horrible habits. Unfortunately, there were other destructive forces I had allowed to infiltrate my life that would cost me nearly everything. I became so lost in life that I had become addicted to harder and harder street drugs. Making my way out would prove ťo be one of the most difficult and painful, yet profound experiences I believe I will ever have to endure in my lifetime.