I’m 14 years old and my best friends offer me a drink saying, “You won’t do it.” At that time I was the dare devil of my friends because anything my friends challenged me to do I did. Hearing those words only made me want to do it more. I took the shot of vodka offered, and I forced it down. That was the beginning of my addiction.
I was in 7th grade then and I found a love for the feeling alcohol gave me. I felt alive, free, and happy. I would stay the weekends at my friends just to get drunk. We would mix every drink without a care in the world. The morning after left a bitter taste in our stomachs and we’d head straight for the bathroom. We never had a memory of what occurred the past night. It became the thrilling rush of my life, until it led to trouble in school. One time, being so drunk, something slipped out of my mouth which ended up being spread around the school. I became hated and everyone wanted to fight me. The friends I became drunk with stirred up trouble with my mother. They told my mother everything I did behind her back. This was the end of our friendship and my drinking. After seeing what drinking did to someone I love I vowed to never drink again.
I’m 16 years old and that person storms in stumbling all over. Its early morning, and I hear the cops outside. Two doors down, from the window, I see a car slammed into a tree. The cops stood at the door informing us this person fled the scene of the accident. This was the beginning of my obsession to be sober the rest of my life. My hatred towards alcohol began with nights where I’ve witnessed several accidents. This person’s presence was constantly found at bars rather than at home. My sophomore year my relationship with this person fell apart. Alcohol became the new love of their life. I was sixteen then, and I knew I never wanted to look in the mirror to see this person looking back.
I’m 18 years old, and my body is being fully submersed under water. As I come up from the ocean I feel alive, free, and happy. Only this time it isn’t a temporary feeling. Instead, I feel a joy that never leaves my side, and a love that fills me up. I have found this joy and love because I found God. Alcohol was only an escape for the moment, but God was an escape for an eternity. I was made new, and my mistakes were no longer burdens weighing me down. I was given new life because I was baptized.
I’m 20 going on 21 years old, and society labels me as an outcast. I’m an outcast because I don’t participate in beer pong or fill my body with alcohol. Behind every rejection I give to a person offering an alcoholic drink is a story. With every offered drink comes a choice, a choice to follow the man who gave his life for me (Jesus), or to follow the person who gave their life to alcohol. I choose not to drink because I’ve learned from my mistakes as well as the mistakes of others. I believe everyone goes on a journey which molds them into the person they are meant to be. My journey just started a little early. However, I am still on the journey constantly learning and growing. I’ll be 21 in a couple weeks, and my plan is to drink a coke without the rum. Being sober doesn’t mean I want to be better than anyone else it just means I don’t want to relive my past. Behind every closed door is a story, and this was my story.