After a few weeks in jail, I began to learn my family was not happy with me (thankfully my brother would be okay and not paralyzed). My friends were not happy with me. Shoot, I'm not happy with me.
So, what gives?
Being chronically anxious and uncomfortable in my skin, I sought chemical solutions, and those solutions were failing me, fast. There MUST be a better way of living. Benzodiazepines, alcohol, some basic friendships, and a regular job were not working, despite my belief it was the "normal" way of living.
Thankfully, something pushed back in my life - forces greater than myself - conveniently disguised as police officers, judges, and attorneys. These figures actually proved to act like a loving hand, guiding me from going down the wrong path over and over again, gently moving me in another direction, one I fought hard not to walk. The path of sobriety and recovery.
Despite my desperate attempts to fight against it, this path has proven to be the greatest gift and blessing of my life today. It is one that has afforded me far more blessings and gifts than I EVER could have imagined.
I have learned to fly helicopters and planes. Driven through all 50 US states. Travelled to over 46 countries and counting. I've been face to face with the most incredible animals the world has to offer - Tiger Sharks, Great Whites, Humpback and Sperm Whales. I've done so with people I never in my life would have imagined would want to spend time with me, such as famed ocean conservationists Ocean Ramsey, Juan Oliphant, Kayleigh and Cam Grant, and numerous others.
I've gone on to get 2 master's degrees. One from Hazelden Betty Ford with a focus on addiction counseling and co-occurring disorders, the other in business administration. As a result, I've been blessed to be directly responsible for treating thousands of clients and families through direct care services, and counting. I've completed over 5 treatment facility builds in CA, TX, and FL and supported others in Hawaii.
You might be wondering, "Why are you sharing all this, Zac?
Doesn't sobriety teach humility?"
And you'd be right; it certainly does.
I share this because it was once October 2007. I was once lying on the top bunk in a jailhouse barrack, surrounded by felons, wondering why a "good guy" just couldn't get life right. I was 21 years old, ostracizing myself from my friends and family without realizing it, and scared to death that I would come to realize that I, actually, had no purpose for living. In fact, maybe, I was not a good guy after all.
Today it's October 2023, I'm 38 years old, coming up on 17 years of continuous sobriety, living in Bali, Indonesia, supporting sober global travel through Nomadic Addictt.
