- Drugs
1,460 days ago I came into this program. I will start with the beginning of that story. I looked in my rearview mirror to see police lights flashing. I knew this was not going to turn out well. In my trunk lay enough drugs to send me to prison for the rest of my life, not to mention I was a felon in possession of a firearm. Let me rewind this story about 20 years.
My name is Josh S. I started doing drugs and alcohol at the age of about 12. At the age of 6 I started training and competing in martial arts underneath my father. I eventually started competing at the national level at the age of 13. I had a very promising and bright future ahead of me. I was already edging out most of all of my opponents on the regional level and working my way up to being a top competitor at the national level. After a series of marriages and divorces that took place in my family between the ages of 12 and 15 I had developed a serious drug and alcohol problem. I managed to get my first DUI at the age of 15 and my first trafficking case at the age of 17. I had been to two rehabs and juvenile prison by the time I graduate high school.
After high school I joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in Camp Pendleton California. I was trying hard to shake my past and use the structure and discipline of the military to straighten out my life. But, as addiction and alcoholism would have it, I was unable to successfully manage on my own. I had become addicted to cocaine while living in Southern California. I got out of the Marine Corps and all the typical things that happen in a drug addict life proceeded to happen. I had numerous stays in rehabs, numerous incarcerations, broken relationships and a life that was very shameful.
Four years ago on this day I was caught for a large scale trafficking case that sent me to prison on a 20 year sentence. While incarcerated I started actively participating in a 12-step program. I managed to stay clean while in prison although drugs and alcohol were all around me on a daily basis. I decided that I wanted a new way of life and that, when I got out, I would continue to actively participate in a recovery program. For the first time in my life I followed the directions that had been given to me by other successful alcoholics and addicts. I got out of prison after three years of being incarcerated. The day I was released I went to a meeting and since then I have continuously worked a program.
After the life that I lived I should not be alive today to even be able to tell this story. But since being clean and free I have gotten back into the highest level of competition in martial arts fighting available here in America. I travel the national circuit all over America and compete against top-ranked fighters from all over the world. I’m seeing my dreams come a reality for the first time in my life. I am enrolled in college and will graduate this year. I am only able to do what I do each day because of the program of recovery and God. Thank you all for your help and support.