I started drinking and using at the age of 13.  I was molested by my stepmom and alcohol and drugs helped me escape the pain and the shame i was feeling!  i had alot of friends growning up and by the end of my addiction i had burned every bridge and ruined every meaningful relationship in my life!  My constant excuse was that if you had the life i did, you would get high too!  i started djing at the age of 14.  music and drugs were the only things i lived for.  needless to say, the drugs eventually got the better of me and i threw away lots of opportunities and caused those close to me alot of pain and misery!  i wasnt a low bottom addict!  when i got help, i had a car, a job and a place to stay.  i sought help through a couple of twelve step programs when it got so bad i just wanted to die!  at my first meetings, i was so nervous and was looking at all the differences!  alot of the people at the meetings were older than me and had no place to live and no job!  something inside me told me to keep going back and that everything would be ok!  almost 6 years later, im still clean and sober!  i wasnt sure what to think of recovery at first!  i thought that i would be boring and that i would have no life without drugs and alcohol!  i couldnt have been more wrong!  my life is amazong today because of the twelve step program i am in!  it took alot of hard work and there were times that i just wanted to quit, but instead, i worked my steps and took direction from my sponsor and noticed that my life was changing!  when i had 4 years sober, my real mom passed away and so did my grandfather!  that year we also lost alot of members that went back out and died of alcohol and drug related deaths!  it was a very bad year for me!  i want to give up and get loaded so bad, but i didnt!  i kept going to meetings and eventually, things got better for me!  i know how hard it is to admit you have a problem and seek help!  deep down inside i knew i had a problem long before my first meeting!  what i love about recovery is that i get to live a day at a time and i have such an amazing life today!  i have a really good job, i have a really nice house, and i have peace inside!  i have also been able to repair alot of relationships with my family and friends that i destroyed when i was using!  recovery definately hasnt been easy and has had alot of ups and downs, but when i go to bed at night, i go to bed greatful for the life that ive been given and for the miracles that i have been given in recovery!  the best thing that i like about being clean and sober is that i can help others recover too!  it means so much to me to let people know that they are not alone and that there is hope!  i owe my life to recovery and im eternally greatful to my higher power for blessing me and making my life totally amazing!