2023 - Ups, Downs and Everything in Between
Good riddance 2023. Except that's not the case at all. Sure, it was a year full of challenges, life changes and more pain than I thought I could handle. But it was also a year of growth, of recovery, of healing, of connection. The honest truth is I had no idea what to expect at the start of 2023 because I was so focused on just surviving each day that I couldn't look to the future without seeing anything but darkness. It took an act of courage by my wife to do what was best for her and our daughters to cast a sliver of light into the blackness that was consuming me. To look back 365 days, to look at where I was in life, there are times that I'm surprised I'm still here. It goes back beyond just this past year, to 3, 4, 5 years ago that I started the slow descent in to the abyss. That's what makes post traumatic stress such a nasty bitch. She doesn't take you quickly. She slowly eats away at the base of what makes you a person, breaking away bits and pieces at a ...