A Perseverance Story

Dear Readers,

Every time I go to a meeting I hear stories of perseverance. Some people have health issues, financial issues, family problems, but they keep taking one small step at a time, and things get better for them. They keep working on staying sober.

This is one of my stories of perseverance.

When I was in my first year of college, I started having mood and anxiety problems. I was saying up all night eating, I couldn't sleep at all. My heart was racing.
I was overreacting to many situations. I was crying all the time.
One time I ran in front of Mr.Ut's car, (we were dating), and told him to run me over.
I started flunking out of my classes, and I had to drop out of the university orchestra.
I really felt as if I was going mad, and some people even suggested I should be in a mental institution.

My parents thought I was going through a phase at first, but as time went on, my mother noticed my eyes bulging out.

Our family doctor could find nothing wrong, but my mother would not be dismissed. She brought me back to the doctor, knowing something was seriously wrong.
Finally we discovered I had hyperthyroidism.

It is a condition where your thyroid is overactive. It's like being all hyped up without a turn off switch.

I had to drop out of college for a semester, and had an operation that removed my thyroid.
I now take a thyroid replacement.
Once my body got evened out, I went back to college and finished my teaching degree with honors.

Without perseverance, my mom and I would have given up, and my life could have been very different

My mom never gave up trying to find an answer.
I never gave up after I had flunked classes.
I had to work so hard to get back and earn my degree. 

There are other stories I will tell to illustrate that in my life, persisting despite obstacles really did lead to success.

That includes getting and staying sober.
It takes work, darn hard work, to get and stay sober. But in the end, it is worth every day I am here. I see the end result and I want that, so I will keep doing what I need to do to stay sober today.

With Love,
On Day 1,166,
Wendy


PS - I have given up coffee. I know, I can hardly believe it myself. It's my sixth day, and I am loving it. The first five days were not that fun, but today, I feel good. My energy seems constant. I gave it up because it was seriously messing with my digestive system.