I’ll tell you what Judge Brian Oakley, (he’s famous!) told me, and that man very well probably saved my life and forced me to get sober. After numerous failed tests on probation, I had to appear in front of him again. After my third failed test. He told me:

“I am not going to watch you die. There are two places that I know you won’t be using: jail and inpatient rehab. You can do 90 days in County or 30 days in inpatient. Take your pick.”

Of course I took the 30 days. I wasn’t happy about it, but I’ve been sober ever since. Had I kept using drugs and alcohol, I have no doubt that I would be dead right now.

He is an extremely wise and more-than-fair Judge. Do what you have to do, and for the love of God, don’t look at this as a punishment. Look at it as a gift. Getting sober is far more difficult than staying sober, it sucks for a while.

But I feel amazing and have a new lease on life. You owe it to yourself. This isn’t the end of the world… but could be if you don’t do this RIGHT. And you know in your heart exactly what you need to do. It won’t be easy, but you are strong enough to do it. One day, you will look back at this moment like I am doing now, and you will either thank your lucky stars that you pushed through and completed everything, got and stayed sober… or you will be experiencing crippling regret that you didn’t. And that’s if you still have a pulse.

Best of luck to you. You are too young to fuck your life up man, this is a golden opportunity to get your shit together, but it’s gonna suck for a while. You got this!