I’m powerless over the decisions of other people, and I’m powerless over the shit that happens in life. I can’t prevent natural disasters. I can’t stop political mayhem. And, I don’t have any power over accidents or acts of fate. What I do have power over, however, is how I choose to perceive what happens, how I choose to respond to what happens, how much I choose to focus on any particular input, and what I choose to think about. Trying to exert control over anything or anyone else will not make me, or them, safe. In humility I find liberation and strength. As long as I rely on myself: self-confidence, self-knowledge, self-will; I am doomed to failure, and I can continue falling indefinitely. Hitting bottom is not guaranteed. There is always farther to fall. My bottom hit me when I saw my addiction in someone else’s story. Therefore, I tell my story in hopes that reading it will help your bottom hit you. We’re all powerless over the cards we were dealt, what family members sat at our table, and the rules of engagement we were originally taught to play by; but we are not powerless now. If we are willing to admit defeat, to leave the table, to walk away from everything we think we know about who we are and what we want, then we find the ability to start over. We can bury the ashes of the past and build a new life on the foundation of truth, hope, and love.