2020 Survivor Spotlight: "From Darkness to Light"
Kelsea is a soon-to-be graduate of the A Way Out Program. She has made incredible strides in her recovery over the last 2 years, and we could not be more proud of her. Over the course of this program, Kelsea worked hard and achieved her High School diploma (GED), and began her first semester of college this past Fall. She has worked so hard, and is doing amazing in her classes. For one of her classes, Kelsea wanted to share her story, so she compared her life before coming to A Way Out to what it has become. Here are her words…
My life has been a wild ride. Buckle up and hold on as we roll into it! I grew up in a broken home with neither of my parents being present. My mom was always in and out of prison. I have never met my dad, and he died eleven days before my twelfth birthday. This made me struggle with abandonment issues, which led me down a very dark, drug-infested path. But my story did not end in darkness, it has turned into a radiant light over the past year and seven months. I am grateful for my struggle because, without it, I would not have stumbled across my strength.
My life was nothing but complete darkness from the time I was thirteen until nineteen. Now that I am on the flip side of things, I can see some similarities and differences regarding my life and my choices then and now. The way I live is totally different from the way I lived before I was chosen and called to live in the light. I sleep like a normal person now. I do not wake up looking for my next ticket to the drug world. I eat, and in fact, I eat well. I do not pursue toxic relationships or numb my pain with poison. I keep from running from difficult circumstances and I now persevere and endure hardships. I can keep a job now and stay in school unlike in my past.
On the other hand, I still face temptations that I did then, now. I wake up every morning knowing that I have a choice as to whether I am going to do the next right thing or not. I constantly feel the call of darkness in my life. I have flashbacks of past traumatic events, which caused me to use drugs in the first place. I still struggle with loneliness and abandonment issues, but I have a strong group of people that play an anchor role in keeping me sober. Community is something I have never had up until a little over a year and a half ago. Without a positive community and Jesus Christ who loves me unconditionally, I would not be writing this paper today on comparing and contrasting my life then and my life now.
Like I said before, I am grateful for my struggle because, without it, I would not have stumbled across my strength. I am so thankful that I can now see that my struggle has played a key role in the woman I am today. Yes, I still face similar struggles and temptations, but the light will always outweigh the dark. Life now is far more fulfilling than life then. I continually chased horrid things in the past to try to find fulfillment. At the end of the day, all I found was torture, abuse, and sickness. Now, I sit here pursuing a career to help others with similar problems that I once was bound in… that is fulfillment!!