In high school I was introduced to an entirely different world. I was “recruited” into a gang within the first two weeks. I immediately embraced this new lifestyle and identity to the fullest. I was drawn to the life of crime, to the money, to the “power” and “respect” that came with being a gang member. I was drawn to drug dealing and the drugs themselves…..
After being bullied and humiliated for a long time, when I was 16 years old, I decided to become a gangster and join the underworld. I remember that my decision was a serious one and had made a plan for it. I even thought about how I could join a mafia organization somewhere ? How should I realize my revenge plan in the future ? It was very true…..
I am currently 34 years old. My family was Buddhist and I was raised to worship the many idols of the Buddhist traditions. When I was in grade three, through a short-lived experience at a church in Toronto, I learned a little about Jesus Christ: I knew about the claim of God being the Creator, who God was, and who Jesus was and why He came down as man to sacrifice His life on the cross for our sins. I admit, the story was…
Let’s take a few steps back. Prior to getting married, we had decided to get a joint bank account. By mid-December, I was noticing some money that had gone missing. This triggered a series of events that eventually led to me eventually finding out everything he had been hiding, including his past and current addiction to drugs. I remember giving him an ultimatum. The choices were simple: going to rehab at Operation Dawn or I would leave…
Why am I in here again? Do I really want to spend the rest of my life like this? I told myself I need to stop doing drugs and I don’t want my life to be like this. But the final question I asked myself was, how many times have I been going in and out of jail these past years? Then it hit me that when I try to count how many times I have been in and out of jail, I don’t remember exactly how many times. That made me realized that it was time for a change…
Already I have been here for a year, I must say this experience here in OD is probably the best thing I have done for myself and my family. Over the 14 years of using drugs, I knew putting back a year to quit is not a waste of time, in fact this is just the beginning for me if I want to live a happy healthy drug-free life. There is so many things and places I want to do and go and I understand the old lifestyle had to change. During this year…
