Hero’s Journey
Each person undergoes a unique journey in their life. However, each person goes through the same basic steps; Choosing different paths to make each journey unlike anyone else’s. The Hero’s Journey is a journey that everyone will take during their life. We should acquaint ourselves with the type of journey we are on in order to successfully complete our journey. I had traveled down the wrong path and had gone from using marijuana occasionally to being physically addicted to methamphetamines. I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed something to motivate me to change my ways and become a better person.
To begin, the hero’s journey is initiated when the hero is removed from their comfort zone. This irresolute feeling is agonizing, confusing, and manifests a Call to Adventure. A call is in demand when the hero has room to grow and develop: when he must change. My personal Call to Adventure was when I overdosed and nearly died, landing me in the hospital for weeks. The hero must answer this calling in order to satisfy this need to grow, face the unknown, and to gain something of magnitude. I knew now was the time to change my ways and get my life back on track.
While I was lying unconscious on the hospital bed, I can clearly remember somebody telling me that I would die if I didn’t change my ways. I never figured out if it was God or a person talking to me but it definitely hit home with me. This was where I made the decision to get clean and change my life. This was the jumping-off point; it was now or never. After I decided that, I knew there was no going back. After I was released from the hospital, with the help of my doctor, I convinced my parents to send me away to inpatient rehab. That is where I encountered my first trials and challenges.
My first trial and challenge was going through the withdrawls from the drugs. I was sick, nauseous, and delusional for about a week until it all got out of my system. That was probably the hardest part. I kept imagining was being in a fire and then directly into an ice bath because of the raging fever I had. After that subsided I could start to work on my issues and start to deal with my addiction. My next trial and challenge came when I was released and went to hang out with my old friends. At first, I had no idea what to do when I saw my old friends using drugs so I just stopped going out.
I had no social life for a time so I decided to try to get back with my old friends and not use. This is what led up to my final battle/climax. The final battle/climax of ’s journey was when I went to a party with my friends and had promised myself that I wouldn’t use drugs. Unexpectedly, somebody had brought some and everyone was joining in on it. I had to choose between using the drugs and getting my life back on the downward spiral that It was on a couple months ago, and between walking away from the situation and keeping my life on track.
Even though everyone was pressuring me to do it, I stayed strong and didn’t; I left and went home instead. I had chosen to keep my life on the path I was on, the path to success and sobriety. My atonement phase was almost as hard as the rest of it. I had to confront the issues that I had suppressed with drugs during a crucial development period in my life, emotionally. I had always coped with my emotions by using drugs but that was no longer an option so I started going to the gym to let off stress. There has been nothing negative about getting my life back on track. My home life with my family is much better. I am much happier overall.
My return phase consisted of successfully going back to school with the kids I used to use drugs with and be able to function without giving in to the peer pressure. It was here that I became the master of two worlds. I was still friends with all the kids that I used to do drugs with but I was sober and had sober friends at the same time. These two worlds were vastly different but I am still able to balance my time between them so nobody feels like I am no longer friends with them. I am confident that I can handle the peer pressure of kids at school and outside of school now and that is crucial to my journey to adulthood.
