It could be said that I am at my happiest when able to spend my time with others. The truth is I am happy to take my time seeking to understand other people but only if a bond of trust develops will I genuinely relax and enjoy being social.
I traveled a well trodden path towards homelessness. In 2001 I was a pub manager who liked a drink. By 2009 I was an alcoholic running a public house. Then fortune intervened, enforcing a change to the ownership and conditions of the business lease. This gave me the impetus to extract myself from a situation that was promising to both define and foreshorten the rest of my life.
Unwilling to accept that I had a problem, I drank through my life's savings before going "cold turkey" and giving up drinking for good. Only with hindsight did I come to realise just how misguided I had been. What followed was a period of no appetite, low sugar levels, anaemia, weight loss, muscle and joint pain, all accompanied with constant tiredness.
Unperturbed I ploughed onwards, all the while making more mistakes. Is the inability to admit that you need advice an illness? If so my blood must be loaded with antibodies. This period of my life culminated with me being asked to attend an interview for a position with a contract which guaranteed hours, that would not cover my bills. It also stipulated that the successful candidate 'be available' for additional hours should the need arise. Not being able to see past the negatives and still blind to my need for advice, I chose to walk away. By leaving I consented to having my claim closed and then made homelessness my next step.
Rough sleeping is both objective and subjective. It affects people in different ways. It encouraged me to take a look at myself, admit my insecurities and finally to seek help and advice. What a decade! Lessons learned slowly, lessons not to be forgotten. All without the aid of any illegal drugs.
Thanks to the hard work and dedicated support of others, I have been removed from the street. Employment is my next step. Repaying the faith and support of all those who's help l could not do without is my next goal. There are more people in positions that I only recently vacated. For me, to be in a place from which I could help them, is something to truly aspire to.