Choices: An Essay to Addicts and Their Families Drug- and Alcohol-Free through Better Choices

By Odell Stigler

I have been clean and sober and cigarette-free for twenty-four years. I began using alcohol, marijuana, and smoking cigarettes at age fifteen. By the time I turned thirty, I was, in my own opinion, an alcoholic. In the last years of my addictions, I tried crack cocaine when I was around thirty-five. I was heading rapidly to the very bottom afterward. Of course, I smoked cigarettes for years. I tried many times and many ways to quit being addicted. My story includes the path my life unfolded. I prayed with the little faith I could muster. I tried the traditional methods of drug and alcohol treatment centers and the 12-step program. None worked for me. I also know that a lot of addicts experience similar outcomes. I landed myself in prison a couple of times. The first time should have been a wake-up call, but it was not. I failed to learn and grow from that experience. The second time, a couple of years later, I would finally be exposed to a force strong enough and at least as powerful enough to gain my attention. This force was my second time in prison due to my third operating while intoxicated charge (driving under the influence). I was sentenced to five years. The prison system released me after five and a half months, followed by four and a half months of mandatory work release supervision at the halfway house. My time in prison was so unpleasant. It caused me to suffer through the withdrawals of alcohol, crack, and cigarettes simultaneously. I also had to adapt to a life of incarceration. I had no say about most everything. I worked in the kitchen washing dishes, which oddly enough gave me something to look forward to. Here is my story. I have been completely sober from alcohol, crack, and cigarettes since December 5, 1999, the day I was sentenced and taken to jail to await transportation to prison. I hope you choose to read this essay for yourself or for a family member or friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892211413

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Acknowledgments

1: Introduction

2: A Strong Support System Is Mandatory

3: Self-Determination Is Necessary to Change

4: Choosing a Better Outcome

5: My Revelations along the Way

6: Improving Your Self-Esteem with Gratitude

7: Success over Time, Celebrating Achievements

8: How and When to Apologize

9: The Magic

10: Service to Others

11: Difficulties for Me along the Way

12: Choices

13: Conclusion

About the Author

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Choices

An Essay to Addicts and Their Families Drug- and Alcohol-Free through Better Choices

Odell Stigler

Copyright © 2024 Odell Stigler

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2024

ISBN 979-8-89221-140-6 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89221-141-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

To all addicts, it is my greatest hope that you will find your path to sobriety very soon rather than never.

Acknowledgments

To my mother, Virgis Lenora (Smith) Stigler, thank you for a great childhood before I turned fifteen. You taught me to be a good person. I am grateful you allowed me to join the army before graduating from high school. You set me on a path to leadership of men. I learned to follow orders and make decisions.

I would like to acknowledge the support of my first wife, Leslye Renee (Walker) Stigler. She passed away in March 2004, she was forty-three. She was my high school sweetheart. She supported my army service and encouraged me to pursue a career as a soldier. She bore the brunt of my alcoholic addiction. She later endured my crack cocaine use. I am sorry that I put her through all the hell I did. I am proud that I was able to overcome my addictions in time for her to see the real man I could be.

To my son, Corey, and daughter, Moria, I was not the best father during the time I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. I missed being there for you both in many ways. I am so sorry. I love you both.

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Introduction

I hope that any addict who is really ready to quit will give this essay an opportunity to help. I also hope that the addict would share this story with their loved ones or vice versa.

I am writing this to persuade addicts to quit for good. It is my greatest hope that by reading this essay, alcohol and drug addicts will learn to stop their addiction(s) and return to a normal life, a better life, the way we were intended to. We were not born addicted. You grew up normally. At some point, we chose to begin having a good time. In the beginning, we thought we were enjoying ourselves. Most of us were following the crowd and wanted to just fit in. Some of us would become addicted over time. We had no idea that our recreational use would turn against us. I began drinking and smoking marijuana around fifteen years old. I wasn't able to recover myself until I was forty. I admitted to myself I was addicted to alcohol around thirty.

When I was thirty-five, a guy I worked with introduced me to crack cocaine. I have forgiven him now, for my benefit, not his. I made a huge misjudgment. If you have never tried it, please I beg you don't try it. It is addictive from the very first time. No bull. I found my path back