Latest / Recovery Chronicles / Justin
Transcript
- 0:00Oh, hello, and welcome to Recovery Chronicles. My name is Shannon Hubert.
- 0:22I'm an addiction counselor at Heartview and you're listening to Recovery Chronicles podcast on
- 0:29Radio Access one O two point five. This podcast focuses on people in recovery
- 0:35from alcohol and other drugs, people who have made positive changes in their lives
- 0:42as a result of being in recovery and walking the journey. We hear stories
- 0:49of relationships with families, improving better employment opportunities, and finding support from others
- 0:58in recovery. On today program, we'll be talking to Justin. Justin as
- 1:03a person in recovery and is willing to share his journey to inspire others entering
- 1:08into long term recovery. Thank you so much, Justin for being a guest
- 1:14on the program today. Thank you. Can you tell me how you were
- 1:18able to kiss the pass goodbye? It's a big question. Yeah, you
- 1:25know, I think there's a lot of things I had to do and I'm
- 1:30still doing. You know, it's a continuous battle. First thing I had
- 1:34to do is eliminate a lot of ties from the past, which was probably
- 1:44and it's still the hardest thing to do. You know, old friends,
- 1:49old neighborhoods, all those kind of things, because I've been trying to get
- 1:53clean for years and I'd always have that sympathy for my fellow addict, and
- 2:02it's always helped me down because I'm just an emotion emotionally connected person with people.
- 2:07So as hard as it was, I ended up all my friends.
- 2:14As much as I cared and loved for them, I started isolating because I
- 2:19knew like they weren't good for me. I don't know if they were trying
- 2:22to help me or they weren't trying to help me. They probably were trying
- 2:24to help me, but they couldn't so I'd move away from them, and
- 2:28I ended up living in a storage by myself, and I just couldn't handle
- 2:36life anymore as it was, so you know, I decided, you know,
- 2:40I had to make a decision to change something. And I didn't have
- 2:46a phone, I had no food, I had no water. You know,
- 2:49I was carrying bottled water from the hotels bathing in my storage and then
- 2:53I have to walk them my land, I have to get food, and
- 2:54it was just rough. So I ended up walking down Main Street and Mandan
- 3:00to the Stanford office and I said, hey, I want to kill myself.
- 3:05Oh geez, And I knew I had no other alternative. There's a
- 3:10chance I probably would have killed myself. But I knew if I did that,
- 3:15i'd be in the hospital, I'd have food, I could call somebody,
- 3:20and maybe I could get help. And a week before that, actually
- 3:25a friend of ours, Crystal, she had seen me walking aimlessly on the
- 3:30street and said, hey, I can get you into this sober living type
- 3:34for second if you want to get in there, just you know, you
- 3:37got a call. Well I ended up with no phone. I didn't know
- 3:39how to get hold of her. So you were like, yeah, yeah,
- 3:44yeah, Well I wanted to and I was all excited about it,
- 3:46and I'm like, but I'd have to walk mile and a half again to
- 3:49a friend's house to use her phone, but she's on Wi Fi and all
- 3:53this crazy stuff, and try to get a hold of my mom and have
- 3:54her call him. And it was just I felt like it was never going
- 3:59to happened because I was trying so hard, and it was getting harder and
- 4:01harder. The harder I tried, the more distant the you know, it
- 4:08got, And it was just like wow, like how much harder do I
- 4:12have to try to get clean? Like I'm I'm giving up everything and it's
- 4:15not working. But you know, it worked. I went to the hospital
- 4:20and I probably went a little too far and said I was maybe violent,
- 4:25and they're like, the doctor's like, you're signing this and you're not leaving
- 4:29here until the judge teems you fit. And I'm like, oh crap,
- 4:31what did I put? It was good, but I think you know,
- 4:36I was just screaming out for help, you know. But an hour later,
- 4:41my counselor from West Central Tyler, he showed up. He said,
- 4:45justin, I'm getting you out of here, and I was just like really,
- 4:48and he's like, yeah, We're taking you to ACS and you're gonna
- 4:51stay there because he knew my plan I told him, but I told him
- 4:55like, I don't know how it's going to work. I don't know how
- 4:57to get a hold of anyone. I'm I'm stuck, you know, I'm
- 5:00filthy. And so he took me there. I stayed there for a week.
- 5:03Is that about the longest you can stay at AC? So let you
- 5:06stay If you have a plan and you're waiting on something, I'm sure you
- 5:12could stay there. A few weeks. I know there's been people that stayed
- 5:15there two three weeks before. Okay, So Tyler came and got you mm
- 5:18hmm and where and he took you to ACS. So Tyler took me to
- 5:25a CS. Yeah, and yeah, he's him. He's a big part
- 5:30of why I'm sober. So he picked me up, brought me over there,
- 5:34made sure I was okay, and he checked on me every few days.
- 5:38And then I got the interview with Mike and he was gonna drop me
- 5:41off, but we decided. I told him, you might as well come
- 5:43in with me, you know, because he knows me better than anyone.
- 5:46He'd seen me walk in the streets in the winter, you know, freezing,
- 5:49and he'd just get in the car. We're gonna go talk, you
- 5:51know. Oh yeah, so he knew. So we went. We interviewed
- 5:57with Mike and he said, yeah, I'm gonna bump you ahead some people
- 6:00and I'll get you in there by tomorrow. So next day he picked me
- 6:05up, we went over there, moved in, and you know, things
- 6:10got better. I got a job the first week I was in there,
- 6:13and I still struggled, but uh, you know, it's looking at recovery
- 6:21here in North Dakota. Because I'm from California. It's a lot different,
- 6:26you know. So can we back up a little bit? So I want
- 6:30to go back to that you're from California and why in the world would you
- 6:34move to North Dakota. So can you Were you born and raised in California.
- 6:40I was born and raised in southern California. I just moved all around
- 6:44San Diego, La, Bakersfield, and I got caught up in the system
- 6:50about twenty years ago, okay, and just a vicious cycle of going in
- 6:56and out. Sure, and I got my first term, my first strike.
- 7:00I got out, I was like, I'm not like any of those
- 7:01people. I'll never come back. But they had introduced me to the needle
- 7:04inside prison. It was like the right of passage in prison. Wow.
- 7:09So the first week I'm out, I go seeking a needle and someone gave
- 7:14me my first real shot, and it was just off and running. I
- 7:17couldn't stop. And two months later I was back in prison on a violation
- 7:23and I went through I don't know two three violations and then I got arrested
- 7:30again and I got my second term, my second strike, but they gave
- 7:33me eight years, eight months. So I ended up doing six years two
- 7:36months on my second term. So that term I really did a lot of
- 7:44change, though, I mean it's a long time. So I started life
- 7:48in prison where I just started living life. I stopped thinking about the outside.
- 7:54You know. I had a job in there. I took care of
- 7:56myself. I had a cell with the TV, so you can't think about
- 7:59the outside while you're in there. You know. I dabbled in drugs here
- 8:03and there, because you know, you get depressed and you know, so
- 8:05I started doing like heroin and all that and there. But uh, it
- 8:09wasn't a big deal. I had control of it. I don't know why
- 8:13I was. I was changing, even though that's a horrible mistake to make
- 8:16in there. But I got out and I'd given myself a plan. You
- 8:22know, I'm a My friend had told me about a meeting that he went
- 8:26to as a Bible studies and it's a ministry I ended up working for.
- 8:28But I said, I'll go there every Tuesday, and that's going to be
- 8:31my commitment. Because I didn't like a at the time or anything. Okay,
- 8:35So I got out and I did I did my commitment. I got
- 8:39a job. I stayed working. I told myself, no dating, no
- 8:43nothing, so I didn't look I didn't look at girls. I didn't do
- 8:46anything. I worked really hard. I'd get home, spend time with my
- 8:50son, work on the ranch, go to bed every day. You know,
- 8:52seven days a week, I'd work and sleep. Nine ten months go
- 8:56by. I'm getting close to discharging my prol aidents. Just he couldn't believe
- 9:00how well I was doing. I ended up starting my own business too.
- 9:03I got a business license, started working on the side plumbing on top of
- 9:07my plumbing job. And it was just like, you know, I'm going
- 9:09to make six figures this year. You know, I bought a new car,
- 9:11a new truck, a motorcycle, my son a motorcycle. Yeah,
- 9:16and I was doing great. But I was trying to buy myself happiness.
- 9:20And I was trying to buy back all that time I lost with my son
- 9:22because in totally I was gone eleven years of his life in prison, not
- 9:26including addiction. I didn't realize, you know, I was working non stop,
- 9:31seven days a week. I wasn't spending as much time with my son.
- 9:35I was getting overwhelmed. But I thought it was great because you know,
- 9:37I got to, you know, take him on trips to Vegas with
- 9:41me, San Diego, we drive, we'd fly to Washington, and I
- 9:45had money to do all this stuff. But he wasn't caring about all that
- 9:48little stuff, and I didn't realize that all he wanted to do was spend
- 9:52time with me. And it got to a point where I started dating again.
- 9:56I started drinking, and I started smoking weed. Then it went to
- 10:01cocaine because oh, I can do cocaine. I'm a methadict, you know,
- 10:05right, But my problem is I'm a consumer of all drugs. I
- 10:09don't care what it is. I'm going to do them, you know,
- 10:11And meth was like my drug of choice. But I was like, that
- 10:15was my problem, So I'm going to stay away from it. As long
- 10:18as I don't put a meal on my arm, he'll be fine, you
- 10:20know, because that's when there's there's no bets anymore. Like I'm gone.
- 10:24Just the insanity of our thing, Yeah, it's insane. Well, I
- 10:26knew that once I picked up a needle, I was usually in prison within
- 10:31a month. I never lasted much longer than that, Like it was straight
- 10:35back to prison. So I got to that, and then I got to
- 10:39cocaine. I was still maintaining my job, but I could tell there was
- 10:43a difference because I'd be working and you know, I had a company van,
- 10:48company phone and all that, and I'm on the job late, trying
- 10:50to make my money and like I almost slice my finger off, you know,
- 10:54I'm just like taping it up. And I noticed, like I'm getting
- 10:58sloppy, you know, like I have all this trust with this company.
- 11:01They gave me a position where I got guys under me, and I just
- 11:05got out of prison, you know, and I knew I had an issue,
- 11:09but I couldn't tell anyone that because I felt I was being controlled by
- 11:15other people that cared about me, like we weren't meeting I to I.
- 11:18So you know, it went from snorting cocaine to you know what, this
- 11:24isn't enough. So I picked up a needle. Well I'm not gonna shoot
- 11:28math, I'll shoot cocaine. Oh no. But I knew how that went
- 11:31because I was a crack addict before all of this, and you know,
- 11:37an apall was gone in a night, and it was just like it was
- 11:41out of control. And one night I'm going to meet one of my girlfriends
- 11:45and my son's mother calls me out of the blue. I'm on the freeway
- 11:48flying because I have to get to work in the morning, you know,
- 11:50and I'm trying to plan this whole night with this girl and and she's like,
- 11:56what are you doing. I was like nothing, I'm busy right now.
- 11:58And she's like what. I was like, I'm going to see this
- 12:01girl, you know. And she's like, well, my boyfriend's beating me
- 12:05up and this, this and that because she got caught in prostitution and all
- 12:09this other stuff. And she always asks for my help. So I was
- 12:13like, gosh, she's like please. I was like all right. So
- 12:16I hit the freeway and I fly to Baker'sfield from LA And by the time
- 12:20I get there, it's like one o'clock in the morning. I got to
- 12:22be up at four o'clock to get ready and leave. It like five point
- 12:24thirty in the morning. And I'm driving her around and she's throwing her bicycle
- 12:30in my trunk and I'm just like, this is ridiculous. We go to
- 12:33her friend's house. She goes to take a shower and he pulls out a
- 12:35pipe and he's like, you want to hit it? And I was trying
- 12:39to stay away from it. But at the moment, it's like two thirty.
- 12:43Now, I don't know how I'm going to make it back if I
- 12:46don't do anything. How am I going to stay up? You know?
- 12:48And how am I going to make it work? And I'm like sure,
- 12:52So I start smoking the pipe and she comes out like, what the heck
- 12:56are you doing? Justin You're supposed to be taking care of our son.
- 13:00Who's gonna take care of your son if you relapse? And I'm just like,
- 13:03whatever, man, I'm a grown man. I'll do what I want,
- 13:05you know. And she's furious now, so we take off together because
- 13:11and she went now she wants to go get some dope with me. But
- 13:15then she starts explaining, you know what, it was actually my fault that
- 13:18I got beat up? Can you just drop me back off at his house?
- 13:22And I'm looking at her and it just infuriated me that she'd have me
- 13:26come all this way to save her from some guy that was beating her up
- 13:31and then asked me to drop her up off at the same house. It
- 13:33was like total disrespect and she may not have seen it. She was an
- 13:37addiction to, you know, So I dropped her off and she gets I
- 13:43said, hold up, where's the dope? Man? I went half that
- 13:46dope, and she's like, she got all mad, and I took the
- 13:48dope and I got stuck in Bakersfield, and all of a sudden, I'm
- 13:54usitying an old girlfriend and then her other baby's dad. Oh I heard you
- 13:58used to shoot dope and do all this. I got some cleans, let's
- 14:01kick it. And he was one of her gorilla pimps. And so I
- 14:05don't know what I was thinking. My problem is I've always seen like that
- 14:09glimmer of hope and everyone. So I'm like, well, maybe I could
- 14:11talk to him and he'll change, you know. So I get caught up
- 14:16doing the same thing, and it was insane. My life just went out
- 14:20of control. Immediately. I became homicidal. I became very dangerous. I
- 14:26was running around with guns. Me and my old homeboys were all trying to
- 14:31kill each other, you know, and we'd see each other in prison later
- 14:33and laugh about it. And it's insane. But you know, I almost
- 14:37killed a few people, and it ways of my conscience. You know,
- 14:41I've done some horrible things, sure, But I ended up leaving Bakersfield going
- 14:45back to LA knowing something really bad is gonna happen, and I ended up
- 14:50oding in a hotel. Something really horrible happened that just scared the living craft
- 14:58out of me, and uh I knew I had to make sure my mom
- 15:03and my son were okay. That's all I cared about it at that point.
- 15:05Sure, so uh I said, we got to go. So we
- 15:11left the hotel long story short, and I knew someone that lived by the
- 15:15uh my mom's school. My plan was, I'm going to go to that
- 15:18house. I'm going to ask him to use the phone so I can call
- 15:20my mom, make sure my son's okay, and then disappear. But so
- 15:26we go there and if they didn't answer, my plan was to hop the
- 15:28wall into the school, run with my mom's class and be like, mom,
- 15:33make sure my son's okay. That's you know, just that's all I
- 15:35was going to tell her. I didn't want to explain the whole thing.
- 15:37Okay, so your mother's a teacher. My mom's a school teacher. Yeah,
- 15:41oh okay, you know that. Okay, keep going, yeah me
- 15:46school tea. Planned well, it was a bad plan, but my only
- 15:50concern at the time was that nothing no one hurt my son because I I'll
- 15:56kill from my family. Sure, and that scares my mom every time I
- 15:58tell her that. But it's a God on us truth. You mess with
- 16:02my son, my sister, my brother, my mom, I'll kill you,
- 16:03you know. And I mean that if they're in danger. I don't
- 16:07mean that if you do something, you know. So that was my plan.
- 16:11I knock on the door that I with the lady I knew. No
- 16:15one answers. My girlfriend starts running off the street. I'm like, where
- 16:18are you going? So I get her top back in the car. We
- 16:21fly. I go into the school and I realize, oh my gosh,
- 16:23it's Christmas break. No one's here, and so I drive out, like
- 16:27I can't go to the house because I'm afraid someone's following me and my insanity,
- 16:30and I don't want to lead them to where my family is. So
- 16:34right now, you're in a methan beetamine induced psychosis, Okay, yeah,
- 16:41And I basically it wasn't. I don't know if what it was that had
- 16:45happened in the hotel, but I believe it was a major stroke. I
- 16:48had stopped breathing, I was paralyzed, and my whole side of my body
- 16:51was gone. Oh, and you know, in the hotel, I'm thinking,
- 16:55oh my god, this is forever. I can't have my son see
- 16:57me like this. It was just I didn't was horrible. So we fly
- 17:02across town. I park my truck, and I'm furious because I feel she's
- 17:04involved in the things that were happening to me. Because I was really deeply
- 17:10involved with gangs and drugs and prostitution and all that. I was right in
- 17:15the center of, like the game right there. And my dumb personality is
- 17:23when I see something that I don't like or that goes against the combic code
- 17:29or what's right and wrong, I opened my big mouth and it's almost got
- 17:37me killed a few times. I don't know why I'm still alive, because
- 17:40I spoke up on some things that were wrong, and somehow I was able
- 17:45to walk out of them. I don't know. Maybe I said the right
- 17:48things, because yeah, I'm supposed to be here, and I think I
- 17:53hit a note in those people where they knew I was right and I was
- 17:57doing it for the right reason, even if they were doing the wrong thing
- 18:00and they couldn't for some reason, I just feel like they knew they couldn't.
- 18:06It would have been wrong to kill me. So anyhow, I parked
- 18:11my truck. I start walking around knocking on houses. Can I use your
- 18:15phone? I just need to call my family. Everyone's like, not open
- 18:18the doors. I must have looked scary, and they're like, no,
- 18:21we don't have a phone in here. I'm like, you don't have a
- 18:22phone, well, you can call them for me, and just really Nope,
- 18:25nobody would let me use the phone. I've knocked on thirty doors.
- 18:29Everyone's scared. So I finally go up to the highway and there's an auto
- 18:33shop and I walk in there. I said, can I please just use
- 18:36your phone. I just need to contact my family. And the guy's like,
- 18:38yeah, that's fine. So I get on his phone and I call
- 18:41my mom and I had no clue what was going on, besides I knew
- 18:47what I could see and what was going on in my reality. And she
- 18:51answers. She's like hello, and I was like, Mom, it's me.
- 18:52Are you guys okay? And she's like, justin, I can't believe
- 18:56you. I can't believe you would do this. I never want to speak
- 18:57to you again. And I'm just like and she hangs up. And I'm
- 19:02like, what does she know? What's going on? So I walk out
- 19:07and I'm just like reeling. I'm still, you know, out of it
- 19:11because of the stroke and the drugs. And I get halfway across the little
- 19:15highway and five LA County sheriffs lay me out in the middle of the road,
- 19:21cuff me up and they're like, what were you doing over there?
- 19:22I'm like, what are you talking about? What were you doing in cast
- 19:25take? I was like, well, my mom's a school teacher and I
- 19:27went to ask a friend to use the phone. They're like, you're lying.
- 19:30I was like, no, I'm not. You're acting like I did
- 19:33a burgery or something. They're like, why did you say that? And
- 19:34they shut the door and took me to the station. Long story short,
- 19:40I won't get deep into that story, but they charged me with the tempted
- 19:45tempted residential burglary with person present, which is a violent crime. It was
- 19:49going to be my third strike, and it's a life sentence for knocking on
- 19:53the door. So I'm in jail and I'm just like, this is crazy.
- 20:00Knocked on someone's door for help. I left, I didn't look at
- 20:02anything, and I ended up I didn't know what to do. I took
- 20:07a deal. I was kind of railroaded into a deal. And I'm still
- 20:10trying to one day maybe look back and get that off my record, because
- 20:14it's totally bogus, Like they had video footage of me knocking on the door,
- 20:18not doing a crime, sure, but it was. The LA District
- 20:22Attorney's office is renowned to be a corrupt you know, the San Fernando office,
- 20:26they have a ninety nine point seven percent conviction rate because they knew how
- 20:30to railroad people, and so it was rough. I ended up going to
- 20:34prison. I did two years with eighty five percent, and I was really
- 20:38bitter the whole time. I was bitter over what had happened on the streets.
- 20:42And when I got to jail, some things would happen with the jailers
- 20:47and the sheriffs where they didn't like me either because I was speaking up against
- 20:51what was wrong, and so I had a lot of enemies and I was
- 20:53just ready. I was ready to fight for my life. So I was
- 20:59in there and I was just stewing on that, and then my dad,
- 21:03you know, he gave up on me. He said, I'm done with
- 21:04you. I don't care if you do life. You know, my family
- 21:07couldn't get an attorney, and I was the one time I was innocent.
- 21:11No one believed me anymore. Yeah, so I get back out. I
- 21:17go to my Bible study again. When I got out of prison, I
- 21:19started working on it, and I, you know, they started telling me,
- 21:22you know, all you're doing is hurting yourself by being bitter at your
- 21:27father and all these other people. It's you know, it's going to kill
- 21:30you. And it was so hard, and I was just like, so,
- 21:34I'm so supposed to just forgive them when they're the ones that were mad
- 21:38at me when I was being honest, and it was like it didn't make
- 21:42any Yeah, what a concept. It was ridiculous. It's insane, and
- 21:47it was just like, no, Like I'm I was always the person that
- 21:51forgave everyone. Now I'm finally bitter because some real stuff happened and I have
- 21:56to be the one again that does the right thing. I couldn't believe it,
- 22:00but I finally I did, and things started getting better. You know.
- 22:04I got a job with the prison ministry, the one that I first
- 22:07went to before that prison term, and they gave me an opportunity to help
- 22:14guys that were getting out from doing life and giving them jobs. And they
- 22:18allowed me to start a business for them to do brush abatement and to help
- 22:22them. And so I got to hire like fifteen guys and bring to work
- 22:26every day in California. Yeah, this is in California. Okay, So
- 22:30how do you get to North Dakota. So COVID hit. Oh yeah,
- 22:34that COVID. The ministry started not having a lot of money. We couldn't
- 22:38go do things, and I'm struggling to make ends meet my mom's stress.
- 22:45We're gardening, We're doing all these things to make sure we're going to survive
- 22:48because California was really crazy during COVID. No one could leave their home unless
- 22:52you were a critical worker. Well I was. I was delivering groceries for
- 22:56one of the uber places, So I was a critical worker. Okay.
- 23:00So I was going out and I had a girlfriend at the time, and
- 23:03she was a blackout drunk and it started affecting me. She got me drinking
- 23:08a little bit with her, and then I started using meth again, and
- 23:12I was trying to maintain and I was honest. I'd go to church,
- 23:17I'd tell my pastor what was going on, and you know, he just
- 23:21like, don't don't give up, keep on going, you know. And
- 23:25one night it was just I had some rough stuff happening in my relationship.
- 23:30It wasn't working well, and I decided, you know what, I'm done.
- 23:33I'm shutting my phone off. I'm going to disappear because life is just
- 23:37not going to work for me. Because every time I try, you know,
- 23:41like the ministry job, I felt like it was not going to work
- 23:42out. I was I was volunteering so much time and I wasn't getting paid
- 23:47for it, and I wasn't looking at the big picture. It was about
- 23:48me still, you know. And so I was like, I'm just gonna
- 23:52give up, you know, because I'm a waste to my family, my
- 23:56son. They don't really need me. So I end up getting a bunch
- 24:00of dope and I had plenty of money at the time, and I ended
- 24:03up in the valley in LA just running around and doing dope with random people,
- 24:07and just crazy things started happening, and it was I've dealt with mental
- 24:14illness and depression, and it was just hitting me really hard because everything I
- 24:19could see something I hear music and it's just related. I'd watch something,
- 24:23I'd see someone, and I was connecting all these things where sometimes they didn't
- 24:27need to be connected. And I ended up calling one of my homeboys in
- 24:33Bakersfield, who you know, he's a gang member. You know he's been
- 24:37you know, he's been to prison multiple times for shootings. And those are
- 24:41the people I hang out with. And I call him because he's my boy,
- 24:45and hey come up here, and so I go up there. Well,
- 24:48on the way on the freeway, I realize my wallet's gone. Someone
- 24:51checked my wallet, so I got no money. So he gives me a
- 24:53few hundred bucks when I get there, and I start shooting dope with him,
- 24:56and h my insanity just got worse, and I started looking around and
- 25:03I stopped trusting my own friends, Like these were people that I had done
- 25:07time in prison for years with, and in prison, like I trusted them
- 25:11one hundred percent because when there was a riot that popped off or something else
- 25:14that popped off, I knew we'd kill for each other, like we'd have
- 25:17to because it was survival. And I trusted them one hundred percent. Like
- 25:19when they were in prison I was out, I'd send them money, I
- 25:22would send them books. So I thought those were my true friends, and
- 25:26they are friends. I still got love for him, but they were in
- 25:30addiction, and I was looking at him like, I don't really trust you,
- 25:33man, you don't really have my back, you know. And I'd
- 25:37always had their back, And slowly but surely I started questioning everyone, and
- 25:42it got to a point where once again I had a gun. I was
- 25:48asking. I was asking my prole agent, I need help, and he's
- 25:52like, you're just mentally ill. You're going to the side court. So
- 25:55I finally made it in some There was some really crazy stuff that was happening
- 25:59in my life. When you get into this lifestyle, you know, especially
- 26:03where I'm from, some really crazy stuff happens. You know, people are
- 26:07getting murdered, buried, all this stuff. People are messed with you a
- 26:11lot, and it can be scary. I'm the dummy that will push back
- 26:15and fight, because I finally got to that at that when COVID hit two,
- 26:19I finally got to the point where I was just so tired. I
- 26:22wasn't gonna just let people do anything to me, to her, to you,
- 26:26or anyone else. I was tired of seeing people taking advantage of so
- 26:30anytime I saw something happening to someone. I was gonna fight for that person
- 26:36because no one else was fighting for him. So I was ready to die
- 26:40for anyone like I was gonna. I was gonna end up dying because I
- 26:45thought something was gonna happen to my son. And I ended up trying to
- 26:48kill one of my friends. And I when my my agent's like, you're
- 26:52going to the psych ward, I was like okay, and I knew like
- 26:53I needed a solution quick. So we went to the hospital. My mom
- 26:59drove me and he followed up, and I go in there. I talked
- 27:00to the psychiatrist and he's like, look, I don't think you're crazy,
- 27:03man, I believe you. I'm going to try to get you help,
- 27:07but you just got to wait here for a little bit. And I had
- 27:08a broken hand because I'd broke my hand on something, and I broke my
- 27:11foot getting into a fight, and like I wasn't in good shape, you
- 27:15know, sounds like yeah, I'm supposed to have surgery. And I'm running
- 27:19around high and the cast is like this far off my arm. It's not
- 27:22even on my arm anymore because I'm driving, and it was ridiculous. So
- 27:27I wait so long and They're like, we don't know. We can't get
- 27:30a hold of anyone. So I walked back out the hospital. My agent
- 27:33my mom are still there, and my agents like, what the heck are
- 27:36you doing out here? You're supposed to be in the psych word And I
- 27:38was like, look, the psychiatrist said, I'm not crazy. He believes
- 27:44me, So can you help me now? Can you get me treat And
- 27:47he's like, well, you give me a call in a few weeks.
- 27:49And I'm looking at him like, do you understand my situation? This is
- 27:52life or death for me. It's always been life or death on the streets.
- 27:56You know. He knows what I've run around with, he knows my
- 28:00lifestyle, and he knows what I'm doing good. I made one hundred percent.
- 28:04Like people will be like, wow, that's the greatest guy ever.
- 28:07He does all this stuff. When I'm using, I'm I'm still a good
- 28:14person, but I'm dangerous and I'm a danger to myself. So he says
- 28:21that, And my mom's afraid to bring me home, and I don't want
- 28:22her to bring me to the house and be around my son. So I
- 28:26go to a hotel room. I'm staying there. Things are getting worse.
- 28:29I'm looking for guns still because I need a gun because it's either kill or
- 28:32be killed. And I decide. I go to my Tuesday night meeting,
- 28:37my Bible study, and I talked to my pastor and he did nineteen years.
- 28:41He did triple life for a burglary and he got out after a seventeen
- 28:44or nineteen years or something like that, so he understands the whole lifestyle.
- 28:48And I tell him the situation. I was like, I don't know what
- 28:51to do. And he's like, look, if you don't quit soon,
- 28:56this is going to have a lifelong if it's going to take years to recover
- 29:00from this, and I was like, God's always blessed me. I come
- 29:03back right after I get clean. He was kind of right, you know,
- 29:08I thought i'd be it would be easy. It is hard, you
- 29:11know. The longer you go, the harder it is. Yeah, but
- 29:15we still got to get back. But so I tell him, look,
- 29:18I don't know what I'm gonna do. But I feel like if I stay
- 29:22here, I'm either doing life I'll be dead or someone else is gonna be
- 29:27dead. So I'm thinking I'm gonna flee because pro can I help me?
- 29:33And he's like, I agree with you. He's like, I think you
- 29:37need to focus on yourself and making sure you're okay and then worry about your
- 29:42tail later. So that's what I did. I called my mom and I
- 29:47told her, and she's just like, ah, that's horrible. That's a
- 29:48bad idea. And I was like, Mom, it's my only choice.
- 29:52If I stay here, something bad is gonna happen. So she was trying
- 29:56to prevent it. And I said, look, I'm gonna start packing my
- 29:57stuff and get ready. Friday comes, my par agent shows up and he's
- 30:03like, where the hell have you been? And I was like, well,
- 30:07look, I have an idea. I'm thinking I'm gonna leave because you
- 30:11can't get me into treatment, so I'm gonna take off for it. He's
- 30:12like, yeah, you do that, man, You're going straight back to
- 30:15prison. You you better report Monday morning or I'm coming to get you.
- 30:19I'm gonna put a PAO, a probe yet large out for you. We're
- 30:22gonna find you. I was like, okay, I'll see you on Monday.
- 30:26So I really started loading up. I said, Mom, I gotta
- 30:30leave Sunday, man, because they're gonna have They're gonna they're gonna be after
- 30:33me on Monday, and she's just crying. My mom my son's just like
- 30:37and because at the point, I'm like, I may never see you guys
- 30:41again. I don't know what's gonna happen. And my son is like,
- 30:47he's in the room crying. He doesn't know what to do, and you
- 30:49don't know what to do. I just knew I wanted them to be safe.
- 30:55Yeah, and this was my only chance. So I packed up.
- 31:00I tried to head north through California because I was afraid they'd get me at
- 31:03the borders because they had the border shut down anyways. Oh yeah, and
- 31:07I got caught up. It's crazy shit, excuse me. Crazy stuff happened,
- 31:14and so I was like, wow, I'm not going to make it
- 31:17out of the borders here. So I went back down south, ended up
- 31:18going through La South Central, staying for a while because I was just trying
- 31:23to find my way out of the state, and then on the reservation with
- 31:26one of my homeboys, trying to get a gun again and we got into
- 31:30it. I went to jail, they got me on a weapon and miraculously,
- 31:37I don't know if this miraculously, but it is because I've never been
- 31:41released from jail in my life in California. If I was in jail,
- 31:44I go to prison. There's no being released from jail ever except for my
- 31:48first uy. So I'm in there and I got to selly and I'm just
- 31:52like, he's like, you need to pray, man, you know prayer
- 31:56works this, this and that. I'm like, look, I've been praying
- 31:57my whole life and it never works, man. And I'm not saying I
- 32:01don't believe, and he's like, look, just pray. So child Titan
- 32:06comes, we eat, and I get up on my bed and I start
- 32:09praying, and I said, look, I'm not trying to be selfish God,
- 32:15but I got to get released. There's some things going on and I
- 32:19can't go back to prison right now. It's going to get bad and blah
- 32:22blah blah. And like literally, I said, I am in and the
- 32:24PA system goes off and it's like Hatten, my name was Hatton before,
- 32:30and it says, roll it up, you're getting released. The DA rejected
- 32:35the charges and they released me, and I was just like and I look
- 32:39at my celling and I was like, he's like, I told you.
- 32:42I was like, I just said amen, like, I didn't even get
- 32:45a chance to do anything else. It was already answered. It was crazy.
- 32:47So I got released. I had some struggles. I finally got out
- 32:51the state and I had Mike, Like. I still have this roadmap that
- 32:55I took because I didn't trust phones, and I had my paths, so
- 32:59I, you know, I was working my path and my my cousin paper
- 33:01map. Yeah, I had a paper map. I still have it in
- 33:05my storage today and it has all my different routes that I was trying to
- 33:07take out of California. But so I you know, I'm staying at hotels,
- 33:13getting drunk and eating food. And I finally make it to North Dakota,
- 33:16and I thought it was the mountains and I was going to become a
- 33:19mountain man. I had my sleeping bag, my tent, my stove.
- 33:22Thought North Dakota had mountains. You know, I never really thought about it.
- 33:27I was just hoping it was away from people because I was I was
- 33:30becoming I was becoming a hermit. You know. I didn't like being around
- 33:36people. I felt like I was a burden and I would never get along
- 33:38with people. So I was ready to survive and if the law came after
- 33:44me. I was going to run into the mountains and I could climb up
- 33:45cliff and get away and they'd never get me. You know, That's where
- 33:47I'd live the rest of my life. But I get here, and I
- 33:52get to Bismarck, I'm like, you know, the first thing I'm doing
- 33:54is looking for drugs, and you know, they had advised I went to
- 34:00team challenge my cousin until this sober living opened up in another state that was
- 34:04nearby that his military friends were opening. So I got here and you know,
- 34:10first person, I was like, oh, that's a drug addict.
- 34:13Hey can you get some dope for me? And they're like, what,
- 34:16I don't do drugs. And I'm just like, oh sorry, And I'm
- 34:19just driving around aimlessly trying to find drugs. And it wasn't going well because
- 34:23it's a different world here, you know, and I probably I didn't realize
- 34:28how different I was from people here, or I'm not different, but I
- 34:32sounded different and maybe I looked different. I didn't fit in for some reason.
- 34:37But I ended up meeting some people that are still my friends today that
- 34:40kind of helped me out. And I ended up, you know, on
- 34:44the streets living in my car for a long time, and then the law
- 34:47got came back for me, and so they put me in jail because they
- 34:51were already on me when I got here. I had California plates. I'm
- 34:54this flashy person that talks fast and plays loud music. Again, I don't
- 35:00mean to be that way. It's just my personality, sure, you know.
- 35:04And so I kind of stood out to the law. Plus I have
- 35:07all these people and I don't know what their involvement is with the law,
- 35:09and I probably brought a lot of heat on myself. So there's an extradition
- 35:15charge for me, and they put me in jail for extradition and I'm like,
- 35:19God, I'd met this girl and I thought I was in love with
- 35:22her, and I'm in jail. And after three weeks they released me because
- 35:25no one picked me up. And I was like, I told you guys,
- 35:29like I don't have major charges. I just ran. I'm trying to
- 35:30get help. That's why I came here, trying to get away from there.
- 35:34So I'm out and I'm trying to get my stuff together. And a
- 35:37few weeks later they put me back in jail and try to extradite me again,
- 35:39and I'm just like And it was parole in California that was doing it.
- 35:43They kept on putting the pl and it was an extradition when where they
- 35:46could extradite me wow, So it wasn't like sometimes you'll have one and they'll
- 35:51be like, oh, we can't. We're not going to take you to
- 35:52jail. They can't get you on that. So they kept on doing it,
- 35:55and finally I was like, look, what do you want me to
- 35:58do. I have no money, I'm homeless, I don't have identification.
- 36:01How am I supposed to get back there if they're not going to come get
- 36:05me? And so my ex wife she and before we were married, she
- 36:08ended up getting me over there. So I got some money together and we
- 36:13drove back to California and I figured it out. They made me do some
- 36:17day treatment phone, you know with the video Oh sure like meetings, yeah,
- 36:22like zoom. Well i'd gone in. It was supposed to be like
- 36:24in meeting and they're like, have you had a cough or anything in the
- 36:27past few weeks? And I didn't even think about it, And I was
- 36:29like, well, yeah, They're like okay, unfortunately you can't do the
- 36:31classes. Now you're gonna have to do zoom, and I was like yes
- 36:35because it was like a forty five minute drive for my home. So I
- 36:37ended up doing that. I was still an active addiction though I was still
- 36:42using, but I had got off the needle and just started smoking because I
- 36:45told me, because that was actually it was an major improvement for me,
- 36:51because I ended up in a different dimension. When I'm on drugs using a
- 36:55needle, it's bad psychosis. Yeah, so and it's not fun because it's
- 37:00so real. You're not going to tell me it's psychosis. I don't care
- 37:04what anyone says. I still struggle with the reality, what's reality and what's
- 37:08not real? And it's hard every day thinking like I was insane. It's
- 37:14hard to believe that, you know. So I got into like the sober
- 37:19living for a while and at a teen challenge okay, and I was doing
- 37:23good. Ended up relapsing on the streets again. I got back. I
- 37:28had my own apartment for a while, got evicted. I was an addiction
- 37:31and got evicted from there. Was homeless, freezing to death that first winter,
- 37:38and I had a friend, a close friend of mine. She stayed
- 37:40with me in my car and made sure I was okay, got another apartment
- 37:45and it became the trap House. It was a nightmare and I wasn't trying
- 37:50to sell. I was trying to get clean and start working, but it
- 37:52was like I couldn't. I was so worried about everybody else on the streets,
- 37:58but not me. I was, And I even knew I was my
- 38:00last concern because I was like, I'm going to be the sacrificial lamb.
- 38:05As long as they're okay, the world will be better. So I was
- 38:07letting everyone on the streets in, but they were, you know, on
- 38:12blues, they were on everything, and like I can't say no when you
- 38:15put drugs in a needle to me, you know. And so I kept
- 38:19on going. But I'd always like try to talk this positive talk to them
- 38:22and thinking that was going to make a difference. But how could I really
- 38:25have a big impact if I'm still using because I'm not showing them the example
- 38:31I'm telling them about, Like I knew because I'd done it before, but
- 38:36I wasn't showing them and I wasn't making the impact I needed, And it
- 38:39just got worse and worse to where it was I was getting raided, I
- 38:43was getting arrested, at my front door and then I get out of here
- 38:45in Bismarck. Yeah, it was. It was horrible. And I had
- 38:51all these friends saying they they were worried about me, and they were helping
- 38:53me, and they weren't deeper an addiction than I was because I didn't really
- 38:57mess with the blues or anything, and I didn't like the blues, so
- 39:00they kept on trying to get me to do them. And can you tell
- 39:04the listeners with the blues? What is the BLA? Thank you? So
- 39:08I've always been against it. When I when I met my ex wife,
- 39:12she was on them, and my mission was to get her off of them,
- 39:15because if someone had her die on them, I was going to kill
- 39:19them. Like you you kill my family, I'm going to kill you,
- 39:22especially if it's drugs and they're docent people with something that's going to kill someone.
- 39:24That's how I see it, you know, like they're giving us drugs
- 39:30that are killing everyone. Wouldn't you be mad if your friend died from something
- 39:35someone gave them, you know? So I got her off of blues before
- 39:39we went to California, and as far as I know, she's off of
- 39:43them still. I don't know, but Anyhow, it got bad there.
- 39:46Everyone was doing them. They started, you know, it started becoming the
- 39:52store for all drugs at my home. And I kept on saying, I
- 39:55don't want this here, and in my insanity, I couldn't hold back my
- 40:00anger. I gained this major anger issue, anger problem. And it was
- 40:07because I'm such a nice person. I've hurt people before, but I've always
- 40:12like i'd beat someone up or do something bad to someone, and I'd have
- 40:15to go make sure they were okay later on, and like let them know,
- 40:19look, I'm sorry I did this because you did this, you know,
- 40:22but I don't hate you. Get your stuff together, you know.
- 40:28But now it was like it was so bottled up. I knew I was
- 40:31going to do something. I could you know, it would be so easy
- 40:36to kill someone, you know, because I just I couldn't hold it in
- 40:39anymore. So like people would be in my apartment and I'd finally just all
- 40:44right, get my shoes on, and it'd be the middle of the winter,
- 40:46you know, four feet of snow on the ground, middle of the
- 40:49night, and I'd just leave and I'd walk and I'd stay out in this
- 40:52cold. I'd be like, they can have the apartment, you know,
- 40:54like I can't control it anymore. And if I get violent, or if
- 40:58I tell them to leave, not going to and I'm gonna get violent and
- 41:00I'm gonna hurt them, and then I'm the bad guy and I'm gonna be
- 41:02in jail because they're saying I'm this horrible, violent person. I felt like
- 41:07I didn't have any options. They were forcing my choices, so I end
- 41:12up on the streets again, and then I got evicted. The reason I'm
- 41:16getting sober now is because everyone I've come in contact with since since this time
- 41:23I got it, I used. And that's including my old friends and addiction
- 41:29people. I was just using with my family. Tyler at West Central Tim,
- 41:36my social worker. Tyler was a big part of it because he would
- 41:39never give up on me. I told him I wasn't. I kind of
- 41:44wasn't made for rehab right now because I have some major PTSD issues. I've
- 41:49been I've been known to crawl and addicts and spaces and like freak out because
- 41:53I hear voices, and like I can't go to the homely shelter because I
- 41:58hear everyone's voices, you know, they're in my head. It feels like,
- 42:01and so he every week I'd meet with him while I was on the
- 42:06streets, and it helped me because I'd be down, like ready to give
- 42:09up, and he'd be like, well, let's just go for a drive.
- 42:12We need some food, and I'd be like, yeah, So we
- 42:14go to the church to get a free box and we just talk and I'd
- 42:17tell him how I felt about the streets, and you know, for the
- 42:21most part, he agrees with me. So like I had an ally,
- 42:24you know, and that was a big thing in like West Central. It's
- 42:30amazing what they do there. I've never seen anything like that anywhere else where.
- 42:34They help people like that, you know, like then they don't give
- 42:38up on you, and it's like you have a whole team. That's ridiculous.
- 42:43Like where else do you get a whole team of people to help you
- 42:45get clean? You know. But then I ran into Crystal, my old
- 42:49friend, and she offered that seeing me on the streets, and I was
- 42:52like, Okay, let's hope this goes through. But like I said,
- 42:55the interview went through. Tyler took me over there and I got in,
- 43:00and you know, that was early August. I started going there and it
- 43:05still wasn't easy. About two weeks in I relapsed. I was working at
- 43:12Denny's, but I was riding my bicycle from Denny's up to the you know,
- 43:15and going through that old neighborhood, the trailers and everything. I have
- 43:20the big hill climb before I get home, and I'd be tired on the
- 43:23bike after work and I'd stop at a friend's house and just hang out,
- 43:28wouldn't use her anything and talk to them. They'd always be like, oh,
- 43:30we're so proud of you, you know, and like it made me
- 43:31feel good. And I felt like maybe I was like, you know what
- 43:35they're seeing, I'm doing good, so this is going to help them,
- 43:37you know. But I wasn't ready yet. Like a week or two went
- 43:42by and I relapsed. Something happened, and you know, bottom line was
- 43:46I shouldn't have been where I was, you know. So but I came
- 43:51back and they let me stay, and you know that I have people like
- 43:57Aurora and all all my other friends there, and it was it was uncomfortable
- 44:01because people started worrying about me and caring about me, when in addiction,
- 44:07all these people said they were worried and cared about me, but they were
- 44:13talking behind my back. They didn't care if I was homeless. They helped
- 44:16me lose my apartments, and they really didn't care. All they cared about
- 44:21was their next high. And I get that, but like I wasn't getting
- 44:24what I needed, you know, it was And I haven't trusted anyone in
- 44:28a long time. So when I first got this sober living and right now,
- 44:32I'm still having a hard time taking help and trusting people, even though
- 44:39I know they're helping me. It's really hard because you know, I got
- 44:45to the point where I didn't trust the law. I didn't trust my family
- 44:49anymore. I didn't trust my friends. The only one person in the world
- 44:52I trusted was my son, but I wasn't allowed to be around them,
- 44:55So why would I start trusting people now? You know. So it's been
- 45:02hard, but it's been good because I'll make mistakes and I like it because
- 45:10they trust I'm telling the truth to them and they can see it. And
- 45:16there's there's they're not giving up on me, you know, that funesty piece
- 45:22right justin well, you know, if we're gonna lie to ourselves, then
- 45:25we're never gonna make it. Like I've been an honest person for quite some
- 45:30time, not about everything, but the past. I'd say the past five
- 45:34years of my life. I started changing my addiction where I used to lie
- 45:37to my family because I was so ashamed of who I was and what I
- 45:40did. But I saw how painful it was, so I started when I
- 45:45when I got real bad in the needles, I told my mom, look,
- 45:47I shoot, dope, you don't understand. It's like the devil is
- 45:51taken over. I have no control, the devil has my life, and
- 45:54I wanted them to know. And then from there I would always tell my
- 45:58mom what was going on, but then it started hurting her and it was
- 46:02painful for us. So then I started like lightening up the truth to make
- 46:06it a little easier for her to you know, to swallow. But it's
- 46:12like lying never got me anywhere. You're never gonna get help. Lying,
- 46:15you know, you're not going to have true friends. Lying you know you're
- 46:20not going to have anything life unless you're honest about it. And it's hard,
- 46:22it's painful, but I think it's the only way, like we find
- 46:28a solution anything, because if we're lying about our lives and our struggles,
- 46:32like how were we going to find a solution to the real problem if we're
- 46:36making solutions for the lies. You know, I wasn't comfortable going to meetings
- 46:39at first because I've done them for years. But and plus I wasn't comfortable
- 46:44around people. But I started going to meetings. I started helping out around
- 46:52the house. I'm working for Josh, the owner of Tied for Second where
- 46:58I live, and which is amazing because it makes me feel important. He
- 47:02gives you know, he gives me duties that like I feel like he trusts
- 47:06me, you know. You know, he has a fire truck. Like
- 47:09I didn't drive it very far, but he gave me the keys and he
- 47:12said, yeah, yeah, you know, and I got to drive it
- 47:15in and wash it. And I was like, wow, I'm in a
- 47:16fire truck, you know, Like this is cool, you know. But
- 47:21I try to help the guys around the house. The girls across the street
- 47:23are constantly taking me to meetings. But I'm getting to know people, and
- 47:29I think the most amazing thing is I go to meetings and never in my
- 47:34life in recovery have I seen so many people from my active addiction in recovery.
- 47:39Now, It's like every meeting I go do, there's ten fifteen people
- 47:44at these big meetings and they're like hey, justin hey, and it's just
- 47:46like, wow, I don't remember this in recovery ever in my life,
- 47:51you know. And then I got a sponsor this week, so yeah,
- 47:55thank you. And it's funny because I've had sponsors before, but I usually
- 48:00just end up with the one guy that finally says yes because they're like,
- 48:04oh, I'm fuller, you know you know this, or that you know
- 48:08you don't you don't look rugged enough, or I don't know what it was,
- 48:13I look pretty rugged, you know. So don't you feel that asking
- 48:17somebody to be your sponsor is one of the most fear based things because that
- 48:25feeling of being rejected. What if they say no and you had that experience.
- 48:30I've had it before, and you know what, this time, for
- 48:32some odd reason, I just knew this guy had to be my sponsor because
- 48:38I just his personality and it kind of had my doubt my mind, like,
- 48:44you know, he may say no, but I asked him and he
- 48:46was just like, yep, no problem. I was like, wow,
- 48:49huh, that was way easy. And it's like I don't know, I'm
- 48:52I mean, we're going to meet in a few days for our first personal
- 48:57meeting. But it seems like it's gonna it's gonna be good because he's you
- 49:02know it. Sometimes it's hard. Like my last sponsor, he was an
- 49:06alcoholic and he dabbled in drugs a little bit, but when he got to
- 49:08know me, he got kind of scared and overwhelmed and he's like, look,
- 49:14you may be beyond my scope of you know, experience, because you've
- 49:19been through so much. Like I don't know if I could help you because
- 49:22this is like, this is a lot. And I was like, I
- 49:27don't know what to tell you. I've been through a lot and I just
- 49:29need help. So we tried, but it didn't work out. But like
- 49:32this guy, he seems to be right down my alley, you know,
- 49:36same personality. He's been through a lot of stuff. And yeah, so
- 49:40I'm excited about that. So justin do you feel that I'm just I'm very
- 49:50spiritual. Do you feel that God just dropped you here in Bismarck, North
- 49:57Dakota because you've deserved all the support, all the love, and all the
- 50:05recovery that you're working on. That's a tough one because, uh, I've
- 50:10never wanted to be important or special I've always felt like I wanted everyone around
- 50:15me to glow and like that makes me feel good with everyone around me feeling
- 50:20good. So I'm always like I don't want the lame night. I don't
- 50:22want to and I always get like attention out in town. Not good attention
- 50:27always, but like right, it's like I'm nobody, you know. But
- 50:30like so I've struggled with that thought, like why me, like cause sometimes
- 50:37it feels like I I go place and it's like wow, this feels like
- 50:40it's like a movie, you know, And I didn't feel like I deserved
- 50:45that for a long time. But uh, I know there's a reason for
- 50:50everything. I'm just still trying to find the answer to that because it's that's
- 50:54a big question for me. But I know he did, because like there's
- 50:58been too many things that have happened in my life that there's no other explanation
- 51:01for except for my higher power of the Creator, whatever you want to call
- 51:06him. I don't know what his name is, but uh hm hmm.
- 51:09I have a reason to be here, and there's a reason I went through
- 51:12everything in my life. You know, it wasn't for nothing, Like all
- 51:15those experiences, they weren't just to torture me and make me suffer. Like
- 51:22there's a reason I have those experiences to share with other people and help them.
- 51:28You know, maybe not yet, but hopefully soon. You know.
- 51:31That's the one thing I'm working on is trying to step back because it's like
- 51:35so hard for me going out and seeing someone suffering, because I'll end up
- 51:39suffering right with them, so they know they're not alone. But I can't
- 51:43do that anymore. So yeah, and that's I know. There's a better
- 51:45way, Yeah, there is. And what I like about your like your
- 51:52story is you know, very powerful because in North Dakota, you know,
- 51:59we are are somewhat sheltered. However, crime is increasing because of you know,
- 52:06ventanol and other things. Yeah. So when you were describing being in
- 52:13California and just literally going in circles and then you just got out you're here
- 52:21in North Dakota to climb the mountains, I bet that was a shock that
- 52:27killed your Mountains aren't even mountains, but you know how passionate you are about
- 52:36forgiving yourself and moving forward. And this is what I experienced, and it's
- 52:42yuck, but that's not really who I am. Yeah, I'm working on
- 52:46that still, I know that's the truth, because that's the truth I tell
- 52:50everybody else every time I try to help someone, I'm like, that doesn't
- 52:52matter. That was a forced those were the circumstances. Sometimes people do things
- 52:58in life and we're all ashamed of things. They could be horrible things,
- 53:00but we don't know what happened to that person in the past or why they
- 53:04did it. Because I feel like we're all just a ball of energy of
- 53:07things that we've absorbed from around us. We're just a product of our environments.
- 53:13And if I were in your shoes growing up, you know, I
- 53:15would be you, you know, but I'm not. I'm me, and
- 53:19I can't say who you are, why you are the way you are.
- 53:22That's why I try not to judge people, even like the bad people.
- 53:24I'm just like, you know what, I don't understand why they're there,
- 53:28but I hope something changes for him, you know. So another thing that
- 53:31you said is that you know, you get out of prison and some of
- 53:37these construction jobs, you know, they trust you. They'd give you a
- 53:40truck, here's a bunch of money, here's some guys, and now you're
- 53:45you're living in a sober living facility and somebody saying, hey, justin can
- 53:52you can you put this door up? I don't know if that's how it
- 53:55works, and you don't got a bunch of guys working under you no where.
- 54:00It's bringing you down to being really humble. Yeah, it's uh.
- 54:06I thought I'd humbled myself a lot already by exposing all my everything, you
- 54:13know, like my whole, my heart and everything. I exposed it to
- 54:15everyone. So I was humbling myself before, but this is a different humbling
- 54:21starting from the bottom. And I'm I'm actually I thought about it, you
- 54:25know what, I'm gonna get my tools and go back to plumbing and do
- 54:28this, or I want to start this nonprofit and do this. But it's
- 54:30okay, you know, it's just like I need to slow down because I'm
- 54:35always worried it's like the end of the world, Like I'm not going to
- 54:37have time to pursue my dreams, and I'm going to pursue my dreams.
- 54:42But sometimes it's good to be humble and remember where we came from, because
- 54:46that's that's the path I've been down for quite a few years now, since
- 54:51this is the longest relapse of my life. It's been very humbling because I
- 54:54and I'm staying humble because when we're not humble, like we end up with
- 55:00this personality, this this cocky personality that you know, we think we're better
- 55:06than people and we deserve this and we deserve that. And I think we
- 55:08all deserve the same, you know. And I don't mind. Like I'm
- 55:13learning. Like there's younger guys, you know, I work with, and
- 55:15they've been there longer than me. So I'm biting my tongue and I'm like,
- 55:21okay, yes, sir. I don't say yes sir, but I'm
- 55:23like, okay, I'll do it. And that's fine, you know what,
- 55:27because if we work hard, do what we're supposed to do, put
- 55:30put an effort into it, and show that you know what you're doing,
- 55:34everyone, anyone could move up. It's always happened with me. I get
- 55:37a job, I bust my behind and I do what I'm supposed to do
- 55:43and I prove, oh, I can figure this out. I've always moved
- 55:46up, moved up the ladder really fast, and I know anyone can do
- 55:51it. And I'm always telling my friends that and they're like, whatever,
- 55:52we don't believe you. I'm like, geez, you know even you know,
- 55:58sometimes you know, maybe this is the time in your life where you're
- 56:01not supposed to move up the ladder. Maybe you're supposed to be humble,
- 56:06which means ground which I never knew before. And maybe you're just supposed to
- 56:13be there to just help those that are still suffering. That there's so many
- 56:20of us out there that don't get it for a very long time, or
- 56:25just don't get it lose their lives. True. I think one of the
- 56:30biggest things I've learned this time around was the importance of things in my life,
- 56:36like what's most important, what's the least important? Yeah? Yeah,
- 56:39and my dad, my mom. A lot of people don't agree with me,
- 56:43but probably the least important thing, even though it's a necessity, is
- 56:45money. I could care less about money if I have food, shelter,
- 56:52friends, you know, I'm happy. I don't care. Did you say
- 56:54clothes, Well, yeah, clothes are important. Clothes are important. Yeah,
- 56:59I learned that here. It gets pretty cold, exactly, it does.
- 57:02And that's what I like about doing this podcast is I've never met you
- 57:07before, and it's been an absolute pleasure. You have the best smile,
- 57:14and that's something that just hearing the stories, and everybody is at a different
- 57:22space in their recovery. So if we look at somebody who has years and
- 57:28years, we're all at risk. And that's why we need to surround ourselves
- 57:32with people who really, really care about us. And you know, you're
- 57:37talking about getting guns and and and then you're you know, insanity, Well
- 57:44not that, but you got tears in your eyes. You know, it's
- 57:46like you have this soft, soft heart. So you know where we come
- 57:51from and where we're going and and yeah, thank you so much. Would
- 57:59you be willing to close with the serenity prayer? Yeah? Can I also
- 58:04just shout out from to my house and all the guys at the house,
- 58:07all the girls across the street, and Tyler at West Central. So yeah,
- 58:10absolutely, all the girls who come get you and take you to meet
- 58:15Yes they do. I have a whole army. And they hunted me down
- 58:17this week. They were worried about me, and they got the Bounty Hunter
- 58:22Award for finding me. That is so cool. I love that. Okay,
- 58:30ready, yep, God, God grab me the serenity to accept the
- 58:37things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that can, and the difference