Here’s the thing,

I got sober from alcohol first. I wasn’t really able to connect with the sober community until I got off weed a year later.

During that year, my life did improve, I wasn’t ending up in hospitals, didn’t shake all the time, wasn’t doing nearly as much damage, but I was still trapped in a haze. My money was spent before I got paid. I was scared of looking for work, because I knew I couldn’t pass a drug test. I worked under the table, hadn’t paid taxes or social security for a decade. I was underweight. I couldn’t afford to keep my clothes even reasonably nice.

I had stopped learning from my mistakes, I didn’t dream (literally and figuratively), I had trapped myself in this weird stoner underclass.

So when I say everything flows from that event, I mean that I was finally able to be a member of the sober community. I was able to do the spiritual and psychological work that was necessary for me to grow into a productive, content, integral person.

As I began to heal, to brighten up, things started progressing the way they normally do for people who aren’t on drugs 24-7. A friend offered me an interview at the company he worked for, I spent five years advancing, learning new skills that allowed me to find a career that I’ll likely retire from. I met a woman at one of the meetings, and we connected well. We’ve been together in a loving, supportive relationship for 10 years.

Not having been involved with the financial, well, anything, I hadn’t ever even had a credit card. That whole world opened up, suddenly I didn’t have to drive fully depreciated cars any more. We’ve both advanced, career wise, to the point that we can travel, and help support our parents as they move into the later phase of their lives.

It’s just been a complete change in the trajectory of my life.