“It seemed so right at the time. Smoking pot was a way of declaring my independence and establishing an identity.”

– A Life Worth Living, Life with Hope, second edition, page 165

Throughout my life, my identity was very much defined by smoking herbs. However, the day came when I realized that I was addicted and I felt a new identity emerge, one based on who I truly am and not anchored in some substance. From the realization that I was not a person because of drugs, but rather from being a person in myself, set me free to pursue a larger I, and with the help from my new family, a greater We. Today, I stand as a human who has discovered many layers of self that were not available to me while numbing my conscious and unconscious self with marijuana.

Final thought: Today, I am thankful for being a fuller and more present human being.