My Super-Charged Life

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“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a true story of one person’s choice to change his life for the better.  No matter where you are in your life, it is possible to make positive changes.  It really is a choice you have to make.  Ryan’s story that he shares below is testament to that.  He has chosen to beat adversity and addiction to rise from the ashes and claim a life for himself.  If Ryan can do it, so can you!   

I feel honored to get to post Ryan’s story here at MySuperChargedLife.com.  It all came about very recently.  Ryan commented on my article Reality Check- Are You Doing What It Takes To Get Ahead in Life?.  His comment mentioned that he had completely flipped his life after visiting self-improvement sites.  I e-mailed him and asked if he would be willing to share his story for the benefit of others.  Fortunately, he was happy to do so.

Ryan’s incredible story of triumph.

Hello, my name is Ryan, I am 21 and life couldn’t be better! Though it wasn’t always this way. I changed my life with the help of many wonderful people. Even after I was pushed away by some that I looked up to because of my mistakes. So this is my way of paying tribute to all those that have helped me along the way. I hope others can learn from my mistakes and (most important) recent accomplishments.

I had an average childhood, I couldn’t complain. Then I hit my teens, we had a few deaths in the family and I started getting bad grades in school. I felt like everything was spinning out of control. I sought something to ease my pain. This is about the time my friends started offering me marijuana and I eventually gave in. When I was high I just stopped caring. I quickly became addicted. I hear a lot of people say that marijuana isn’t addictive… after 7 years of heavy use I know, it is!!! I’ll get to that later. Instead of dealing with my problems I would just get high and forget.

I lost interest in school, sports, family and just plain thinking! I couldn’t remember lyrics to favorite songs. I lost my linguistic, social, and even basic memory skills. I got so bad I couldn’t even remember what I had done the day before. My own family started looking down on me and pushed me away. I started going to parties looking for someone, anyone to relate with. At first I would only drink at parties. Eventually I got so addicted I started drinking alone. I found “comfort in the bottle.” I would drink so much that I started blacking out. At my worst I would drink up to a liter of hard liquor. I got so depressed I felt that I would be better off dead. One day I got a wake up call when I blacked out and got in a verbal fight with my girlfriend. She was so mad that she was going to leave me. That’s when I vowed to change.

I stopped going to parties and sobered up. I spent more time at work and distanced myself from friends that had bad habits which was basically all of my friends. I started saving money and bought a computer. This is where my life started to changed. I was still smoking pot, I was in denial about how badly it was affecting me. I finally realized this when I quit to pass a drug test… which was incredibly hard. I then quit my dead end job at a pizza place and am now thinking about joining the Air Force. After 7 years of using almost everyday this was the only life I knew.

When I quit I could only sleep for about 3 hours a night! I would shake and sweat while trying to get some sleep. I had to start exercising until I was exhausted, just to get some rest. When I finally got over my addiction my memory started coming back rapidly. Now I remember songs I heard days ago. I remember how to spell words usually after typing them once. I was fascinated at how fast I improved. I now push myself to see how far I can go.

I started using my PC to look for ways to expand my mind. I found tons of self help websites with tons of ideas and suggestions. Any problem I had someone else had already dealt with. All I had to do was ask. I no longer feel alone! My depression is gone and my eyes are opened. I am amazed at the abundance of people that will freely help others. I began using these resources to “train my brain.” Now I’m working on speed reading, expanding memory (visual and verbal), typing, spelling, physical health and much more. I found new hobbies, I learned to play the piano, drums, harmonica and guitar. I learned from new friends I found.

I’ve turned my life around completely. At my low I wasn’t sure I wanted to live anymore, now I can’t believe how good I feel. Just to help others with their problems makes me feel good… help people that are like I was. All thanks to the wonderful people on the Internet. You never know when you could be changing someone’s life. You can make someone feel wanted with just some simple advice. I will always continue to try and be there for others because people were there for me. Remember its never to late to change your life.

Again, I thank all of you that were there for me. Thank you Jeff and MySuperChargedLife.com, the help you’ve given me and others has made a huge difference!

There is hope for those that choose to change.

Please find hope in Ryan’s story.  He is an inspiration to us all.  He found himself in a hole and chose to get out.  If you are in similar circumstances, then Ryan and I want you to know that you can do the same.  You just have to make the choice.  It is available to you.  Life can be great!

Ryan asked me to include a link to the poem Desiderata in my post.  I think you will find that it is particularly well-suited.  I hope you enjoyed Ryan’s story and find encouragement from it.  If so, please leave a comment below to further encourage Ryan as he continues to grow in living life to the fullest!

“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

“Our true wealth is the good we do in this world. None of us has faith unless we desire for our neighbors what we desire for ourselves.” -Mohammad

Photo by Matthew Fang