My recovery is solely contingent on my rigorous honesty.

What keeps me going is my understanding that I am not the most powerful person in the world, and that I cannot do it all on my own. I still struggle with that eight years later, but one of the first lessons that I learned in treatment and in my recovery is that I need people who are like me, who are struggling with the same things that I'm struggling with—so that I know that I'm not alone in my thoughts, I'm not alone in my struggles. There are people out there who are exactly like me.

There are levels to recovery. And I'm so blessed to have been able to see eight years of those levels. There are many times where there are days that are extremely, extremely hard. On those days, I'm so grateful for my people, for my family, my recovery family. But on a day, such as today, it's Monday, I wake up. I now have a family of five. I'm married. I've been married for two years to a man who's also in recovery as well. And we have three children.

There is another way, that there is an easier, softer way of life, and that if you want it, you should be able to have it.

Recovery is worthwhile because I got to reveal things within myself that I didn't even knew existed. There are hidden things within each individual who is suffering; each of us have these special and unique talents, and until we're able to find that and peel those layers of the onion, we won't be able to know that they exist. And when I first started recovery, I was just so focused on not picking up a drink or a drug. I was focused on making sure that I followed rules. That's the first level.

And I'm blessed that because I didn't pick up a drink or a drug, I got to experience the second level, which was, I can actually manage money, if I apply myself to it. And I have energy that I never thought I could have. I have the ability to do things that I thought were impossible to do, and that I never would accomplish.

Without other people's understanding and compassion, I don't know if I would have been able to remain actively in recovery. Prayer and my recovery community got me through the most trying times in my life, to stay on a path so that I could again experience the next level of my recovery, which is a professional level in my life, what I'm living right now.

It's hard work to change your mindset. I have no promises on a timeline, but what I can tell you is that, if you just hold on tight, and experience these things, and reach out for help, that there are people out there that will tell you, "You're exactly right where you need to be, just hold on. Just hold on tight because what you're going to experience after this is going to be what reveals something so special that you never even knew existed."

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