From Addiction to Redemption
There was a time in my life when I truly didn’t believe I would make it out.
Every day felt like survival. Nothing seemed to go as planned, and challenge after challenge stacked up until it felt overwhelming. When life keeps hitting you that way, you eventually have to stop and ask yourself: What is the root cause?
When I look back now, I can see clearly that many of the mistakes I made were lessons — painful lessons, but lessons that shaped me. I’ve learned that when the bad begins to outweigh the good, change isn’t optional. Change becomes necessary.
There were struggles I could control.
And there were struggles that controlled me.
Addiction was one of the ones that took control.
Addiction is like a vacuum. At first, it feels harmless — even exciting. You sit in a room with friends, everyone laughing, everyone getting high. It feels productive. It feels powerful. It feels like escape.
But what happens when the party ends?
When the laughter fades?
When the supply runs out?
That’s when reality sets in.
The brain, flooded with dopamine for hours, crashes. Depression creeps in. Bills are behind. Work performance slips. Relationships suffer. What once felt like a “pick-me-up” slowly becomes a “put-me-down.”
I’m speaking specifically about methamphetamine — a substance that convinces you that you’re functioning better, achieving more, becoming more. The truth is, over time, it takes far more than it gives.
Staying up eventually leads to breaking down.
For some, law enforcement becomes the wake-up call. For others, it becomes another layer of consequences. Either way, the chaos grows.
There were many times I believed I might not survive my own choices. Yet I kept convincing myself that the high life was better. That’s the insanity of addiction — believing the very thing destroying you is saving you.
I spent years chained to resentment and pain I refused to release.
Then, at 30 years old, my life changed.
The birth of my first child shifted everything. What was once selfish became selfless. What was once destruction became responsibility. Love gave me something addiction never could — purpose.
I won’t minimize how dark it was. It was that bad.
But I broke free from the revolving door.
Today, I know this: there is a way out. Even when it feels impossible. Even when you think you’ve gone too far.
If you’re trapped, you’re not alone. And your story doesn’t have to end where it is right now.
Choose change.
Choose life.
Get inspired to build something better.
— Paul Kurko
Founder, Kurko Inspires
Kurko Inspires 