Unfortunately, addiction sometimes is a powerful thing

Couple sad notes to share regarding addiction. A lady who is in my Master of Counseling Program wanted me to give an ADDICT dvd to a friend of hers who was battling addiction so I did. I was informed that it made an impact on him and he was on his way to recovery. Unfortunately, addiction sometimes is a powerful thing and this young man thought he could use one more time for old times sake. He ended up overdosing and was in a coma for several weeks. I just got word last night that his funeral took place over the weekend. It is sad to see another young life lost when it did not have to be.

I also received a letter from a guy in prison who is doing life. For what you ask? Murdering his own mother. Turns out that this gentleman had nine months of sobriety and wanted to drink one more time and in a blackout he killed his own mother with whom he had a great relationship with and woke up in a hospital handcuffed to his bed. He had no idea why and when he was told what had occurred he was in disbelief. Once again we are reminded of how serious addiction is.

My point in sharing this information is this. Society needs to support programs like Racing for Recovery so we can prevent this from happening again. Alcohol and drugs kill more people than all cancers combined and also do more damage to society but people do not give this the attention it deserves. Of course when it hits home on a personal level then people want to get help immediately for their loved one or friend.

I will be donating a couple presentations at our local jail and drug treatment center in the next couple weeks. I am looking forward to reaching out and helping people in both of these facilities. I was contacted to do these gigs by a girl who heard me speak a few years ago and is now working in the field to help others.

On a positive note the entries are coming in for our 4th annual 5k on Oct 23. We need volunteers and if you would like to sponsor this event and get your company name on the t shirts, please contact me ASAP.

I am off for a run as I have the Chicago Marathon to do on Oct 9. One last big event and I am done for a few months.

Enjoy the day.

TC