My journey with addiction started years ago. I’ve enjoyed sports my entire life and when I learned that I could bet on sports my joy for it went way up. Because of the problems I dealt with in my marriage betting on sports have me happiness and something to look forward to everyday. I couldn’t sit down to watch a game without putting money on it. It got to the point where I would bet on the over/under of how long the National Anthem would take before the Super Bowl. It was that bad! 10 years ago, I joined a group called Addict to Athlete to support my niece in her drug addiction. We would meet every Tuesday night. Afterwards there were groups that would get together to either run a 5K or go walk for a bit. This is where my running started. Since I joined AIIA I’ve ran multiple Ultra marathons over the years ranging from 50K’s to 100milers. Running gave me another out from my awful marriage problems. In October of 2017 we lost my niece to heroin. Shortly after that my depression finally got the best of me. It took me down a road I never thought possible. As I was delivering for UPS one day I made a stop at one of my businesses on a very busy street. I was so deep into my depression that day. When I stopped I looked in my driver side mirror noticed traffic coming and immediately knew what I was going to do. I jumped out my driver’s side door into oncoming traffic. Luckily people were paying attention and swerved around me. I spent the next 10 days in a mental hospital trying to figure myself out. A few months after I got home, I found myself snowshoeing on the mountain. I built a snowman and spent hours chatting with him about my problems in life. I came to the conclusion that divorce was the best thing for me. 4 months later I was single and changed positions at work. I met Stephanie, my amazing wife right in the Knick of time. I was able to talk with her about all the crazy things I’d been going through. We were two peas in a pod. We are now best friends and do everything together. I’m so thankful for the lessons that I learned from my past life and the life of others. My niece was the most amazing young woman and loved to serve everyone. I will never let that part of her fade away. I strive every day to serve as she did. Helping anyone and everyone I can to be better is my goal in life now. If you’re struggling in life, no matter how bad it gets please remember you are worth it. Please open your mouth and ask for help. Let others that love you help you along your journey. We all need that someone to help us on our journey. Things are much easier when you have a team behind you to lift and support you when times get tough. If you’re seeking to assist others don’t be afraid when you see people reaching up for help just grab them by the hand and pull them along with you. Open your mouth and share your story with them. You may just save a life. Turn your Mess into a Message.