Be Proud For How Far You’ve Come

Driving through Colorado, South Park specifically, and on my way to Montrose it’s hard not to be struck with the beauty of the area. A few hours of Denver and a right turn puts you through some pretty amazing part of the country. Definitely one of my favorite drives. One you’re through the rolling hills and the rivers disappear into the distance you’re headed up a mountain towards Monarch Pass. On the way up, if the snow is right I would take an afternoon to hit the slopes at Monarch Mountain. This is where I learned to snowboard, which is one of the main reasons Im free of addiction and sober today.

Past Monarch mountain you’ll reach a point where the road opens up, and you’ll feel like you’re onto of the world. To the left theres a general store and a cable car to the summit of Monarch Pass and what’s known as Monarch Crest. When I was addicted to drugs and alcohol this place stayed under my radar. I would pass it a lot in the summer going back and forth to Denver. But last year I decided to swerve off and have a look. Went to the general store to grab some coffee. The air is cold and thin up there at 11,000 feet and I needed a little legal pick-me-up. I also got a ticket to ride the cable car to the top of the pass. The cable cars were old and had carried their fare share of visitors of the same pass.

I started to think that this little road-side adventure I was taking was a little bit prophetic, and completely mirrored my struggle with addiction. I started at the bottom, was cold and unsure. But I took the plunge and went to addiction treatment. That put me half-way up the mountain. Just like the cable-car the journey to the top was slow, would occasionally stop and slide back…but just like recovery, it would keep pushing me forward. I made it to the top of the pass and the view was spectacular, life-changing, and a complete parallel for my life in recovery.

At the top of the mountain I feel proud for how far I’ve come.