On Being Sober by Joel West
A very inspirational Facebook post by Mr. Joel West of Burns Lake, BC
In life sometimes we get blinded by the bad, the negative and most times forget that we are all here for a reason and that our lives have purpose, that we all have it in us to help each other and that when things get tough and feel that you are never gonna win or we never get a break, then we can either take the easy way and just give up.
But in those times creator may pass you a life line or an angel in disguise that will give you the strength to go on, the courage it takes to make this life beautiful, and maybe even a child’s opinion that can reset how you see things or how you look at life; or could be something that might seem so easy that we forget how wonderful and heartwarming it is to even give or receive a simple hug or a smile and a wave to let you know that you are worth it, that you have a place in this world.
But these days with all the chaos and negativity it seems almost impossible to help someone when we can hardly help ourselves, but that is when we pray and walk by faith and not how shiny or expressive something is. But don’t get me wrong, those things are nice to have when we work our butts off for it and make our own sacrifices and be committed to do what it takes to have what you want, and that’s how dreams come true, so now we think of what moves to make next to get to the next level and not be afraid to give advice or to help guide people out of harm’s way physically ,spiritually and financially, even if you have to take a little pay cut or a loss, but it is these things that we must restore along with our faith, our trust, our love.
Maybe if we do this our children will catch on and make the future a much better place, that will give our youth a brighter future and our elders a security that things will be ok, so we can learn to live together, not to fight one another and to build, not destroy, to help rise not fall, to help succeed not fail, so once we find it in us that we can forgive, that we can change so if you’re in a bad spot, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
I was afraid but I had to gather every piece of courage in me to even breathe a whisper to get help. And I am so happy and grateful that I did and was again, frozen in fear to wonder what my family and friends thought of me when I decided to quit drinking, drugging , smoking and chewing; that I might be seen as weak or soft that I chose to not do those things, or might be thought of being better than anybody and be pushed away.
But I am the person creator made me to be, that I am not better than anybody, that I breathe the same air, that my heart beats the same rhythm as the next person. But In my sobriety I found that I do have feelings, emotions, and most of all a heart that cares. And I’m telling you now I care and love you all; that yes I make mistakes, yes I have my bad days that I trip and fall too, but I learned to get back up cause when we were babies we learned to crawl, then to stand on our own two feet, then to walk. But yes we fell and yes we bumped our heads, scraped our knees and elbows and got big bumps on our heads.
But from that pain we learned determination, we learned to not give up on ourselves, so if we can learn to do that we can all learn how to do things that will makes us happy and successful. So find yourself a place that makes you happy; it could be a sport or school or job or that one person that brightens your whole day when you hear their name or see a picture, or maybe it could be music. I know for myself I love to be on that stage doing what I love best and that is to sing and play my guitar. It’s only there I feel truly loved ,wanted ,proud and it’s only there I could never be hurt; that I can escape to my own happy place with people I love and miss so dearly.
That is my heaven. So find your greatness and run with it. Find people that want more, that inspire you, that motivate you, that guide you in the right path to be joyful, to be free, to be courageous, but most of all be YOU. And that’s what makes you unique and loved. And we all have those qualities to help one another; that we all hold a special key that if found can unlock our ideas our walls our hope our faith our hearts.
So if you found that something that will drive you to get out of bed every morning to keep pushing forward when times are tough, to find your way out of the darkness, don’t let it go cause you may never find it again. But never give up on it cause miracles happen every day and be happy with you; to be grateful for who you are, to love yourself unconditionally. That you are the light in someone’s life, that you are cared for, that you are appreciated and loved by someone, so you all have a good day, morning or night, whatever it may be, that you are going through in this time of your life, that you are LOVED
Take care everyone and yourselves eh
It can’t rain all the time
No matter how bad it is or how bad it gets I am going to make it
It’s not over until I win
Remember these as they have helped me in dark times and that we are in control of our own happiness 😊🤙
Love you all and prayers going up
SENSE AND NONSENSE 