A Pirate’s Life For Me

Habili-blog 1/2/19
“A Pirate’s Life For Me”
by Jared Mayes

Little Billy raises his hand and says he wants to be a fire fighter. Sally sheepishly raises her hand and tells the teacher she wants to be a veterinarian. Me, I don’t raise my hand out of fear of persecution for my future career plans. Although there is not a whole lot of work for pirates these days, my little brain was dead set on hitting the open seas for a life of pillaging and plunders. Ironically enough my nomadic, drug infused lifestyle may just have been as close to the life of a pirate as one can get nowadays.

Twenty-eight months ago, I embarked on the most important voyage of my life.

Across the ocean blue I soared until hitting land on the island of Oahu. Quite frankly I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew is that I had just finagled my way to Hawaii on someone else’s dime. I wasn’t in the market for a life changing journey as much as just a pit stop to recharge until I could continue on my path of ruining every opportunity that stepped in my way. I can’t really place my finger on it, but something happened in my first couple months. I saw a little flicker of hope that I might actually be able to escape my preconceived destiny of eternal addiction. That fire was fueled with some of the most influential mentors I have ever encountered to date. Eventually my passions and potential became entirely engulfed in the flames of determination. I have gone through just about every possible emotion throughout my stay at Habilitat. The key words of that last sentence being gone through. Just like a ship sails through storms, I learned to navigate my way through the hardships of life.

“Rough seas make strong sailors.”

I have learned to embrace the struggles and see them as opportunity to transcend my weaknesses into strengths. Every good pirate sails alongside his shipmates and learns to lean on them in time of need. This is a major factor in my success. I have made some of the strongest bonds with individuals weathering the exact same storms as I am. Me and my fellow sailors lift each other up when necessary and push each other to the brink when we see weakness peeking through. All of this had led to culmination of me completing one of the toughest and most strenuous programs in the entire nation.

As of yesterday, I can consider myself a proud graduate of Habilitat’s long term substance use and vocational training program.

To say I’m proud would be an understatement, but ultimately, I feel content that I am finally able to see myself the way my family and friends always saw me. Just like I have come to terms with the realization that I will probably never be a pirate, I have come to accept the fact that I am not a junkie either. I wasn’t born with an extra chromosome which damned me to a life of sticking needles in my arm. I just played a role that best suit my need to escape my emotions. These days I don’t play a role anymore. Life is not a movie and I am not an actor. I don’t have to define who or what I am anymore. All I need is to put my best effort into any task at hand and roll with the unavoidable punches that life will inevitably throw my way. I was always the Captain of my ship. I just never had the coordinates to find my ultimate treasure. A lot of wrong turns were made and I found myself amidst some of the roughest storms imaginable. I am back on course and have found my treasure.

It may not be a chest full of gold, but to me it’s the most valuable treasure in all the lands; a future.

The only thing that differentiates me from others on this journey is a willingness not to give up. Let me be the first to say, if I can do it, anyone can. You just have to want it. Don’t let the hardships of your past define who you are but instead use them to propel you forward into greatness. I want to thank Habilitat for all that it has done for me over the past 28 months. Nothing in life worth doing is easy and that goes tenfold for Habilitat. The rewards of fulfilling the commitment I made to strive for a better life, outweigh any negative feeling I experienced throughout my stay. I’d also like to thank all the scallywags who have taken the time to read my blogs over the past few years. Soon I will be setting sail to bigger and better treasures. Ahoy! A Pirate’s life for me.