12. Cocaine and a Shank - Joshua Vazquez

This week’s episode is a lost episode that was recorded back in 2019. If you know someone who deals with drug or alcohol addiction, this episode might be for them. Don’t let your past be the story of your present. Learn more about Joshua here: https://grandfinaleseminars.com

At this point in my life, I was having pretty serious bouts of sleep paralysis. You know, that feeling when someone's looking at you, you get that feeling. It's like, super intense. So I opened my eyes and there was this woman hovering over me with long Gray stringy hair and like, this big black dress. And I look and she's like, right in my face. And then she picks me up off the couch and I'm like, Levitating on the couch. And then she sits me up and then lays me back down and then pins me to the couch. And I'm sitting here fighting this woman for, like, 5 hours. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Erin with the Simply Overcoming Podcast. How are you doing? This episode is releasing March 2, 2021, but the episode was actually recorded back in 2019 for people who have been following along the journey of the Simply Overcoming podcast. I originally started the podcast back in 2019. I recorded a couple of episodes and then I scrapped it. This episode might be a little difficult to listen to. The audio goes up and down a little bit again. This was the second episode that I ever recorded for the Simply Overcoming Podcast back in 2019, but it's a pretty decent story, and I really hope you enjoy it. If you know somebody who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, living the party life, this episode might just be for them. Hey, what's going on? Podcast Universe? It's Erin, and this is the Simply Overcoming podcast. We made it episode two. I'm super excited about it, and today I have a very awesome guest on the podcast. He's a friend. He's a compadre. Joshua Vasquez. How are you doing? I'm doing great, man. How are you? I am fantastic. We have been here in my studio in beautiful North Idaho for the past two days doing some recording for Josh on a project that he's working on. So we have been able to spend a couple of days together, but we go back further than that, don't we? A little bit. Four years. Yeah. Something like that. Four and a half years. Yeah. Thanks for coming out today. Yeah. It's a pleasure. It's good to finally be in your studio. See what you're doing out here. See the good work you do? Well, thank you. It has been an odd summer this year. For the last two weeks, it's finally started to heat up. It's been a really cool summer so far. No smoke in the air yet as of yet. That's awesome. But you know that it's going to happen eventually. Let's hope not. So you are here in North Idaho. You're actually from Wouldbe Island, but you're here in North Idaho. You were over here for a wedding. Yeah. And How's the family doing? Family is doing great. We are actually going to be moving from Woodbee Island here at the end of the year. Going to be going to nursing school. I'll get my prereqs and then. Oh, you're actually moving here? No. Florida. Florida? Yeah, I'm done with Idaho. Well, we're done with you. Get out of here. How's Cannon doing, Kean's? Good. How old is he now? Seven months tomorrow. Oh, my goodness. Time flies by far too fast. He's wanting to crawl, but he hasn't figured it out yet. So I've heard bits and pieces of your story before, but I'm Super excited to dive into your story today. I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot more about you after the end of this podcast than I ever did before might end our friendship. I hope not. It definitely could, but I'm hoping that is not the case. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Josh. Where you come from? Your background? I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. Well, I was born in Tampa. I raised about an hour north of Tampa in Bushnell, Florida. A little tiny town used to be much smaller, and I was home schooled till about 8th grade, but then I went into 6th grade because that was where my IQ was a grade behind. Oh, I can understand that. Yeah. So then I went to public school for 7th grade and then went to a Baptist school for half of 8th grade. From what they tell me, I convinced my parents to put me back in public school for the remaining of my schooling. And you said, did you say you grew up in? Where did you grow up? Florida. Yeah. Florida. Central Florida. Central Florida. Yeah. In the flatlands. You really like that? Florida, don't you? I do. I would imagine after you growing up in Florida, you wouldn't want to go back. But this guy, he's a hardcore Florida fan. It's hot and you can grow. See, I can't eat any fruit that grows in Northwest except for the berries. Really? Yeah. Apples, pears, peach. You're allergic. You're allergic unless it's dry or cooked. Seriously? Yeah. Wow. How does that work? Apparently, there's an enzyme in there that makes me sometimes vomit, but mostly, really, itch. I'll feel my stomach. Itching interesting. I've never even heard of anybody that was allergic to like that much fruit in general. It's terrible. It happened when I hit puberty. Thank you. Puberty? Yeah. Did you end up going to College? At some point, I moved out of my parents'house. Let's see. I was probably in 11th grade. I moved in with my sister and lived with her for a while. I could get away with a lot more over there. Like what? What were you doing, Josh? Let's see. I was grade behind, so 18. I was in 11th grade, and that's when I started drinking. And on my 18th birthday in Daytona Beach. And then I could go to football games on Friday night, I could hang out on the weekend and still show up to Church on Sabbath. Were you a happy drunk? Are you a happy drunk? I was. Yeah. But then I could get pretty mean sometimes. What was the motivation to continue drinking? Did it loosen you up? Make you feel more confident? Probably. I only danced when I was drunk. Oh, yeah, because I wouldn't have to really remember how bad I danced because I can't dance with a broomstick. But let's see. Yeah. I guess it was just what I thought was fun and everyone else was doing it. All the cool kids are doing it. So I wanted to you want to fit in with the cool kids, for sure? Chasing girls and all that? Oh, absolutely. How old are you now, Josh? Oh, good question. 31, 31. How long have you been married? I've been married for three and a half years. Just about three and a half years. Yeah. Graduated high school in May of 2007. Then in August of 2007, I got a job as a Correctional officer for the Florida Department of Corrections and went through corrections Academy and then worked for them for a year and eight months at a medium security prison right there in my hometown, Sumter County. Okay. After a year and eight months there, I went to the federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida. So I worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons there for eleven months. And while I was working there, I realized I wanted to be a US Marshal, but to be a US Marshal, you have to take a polygraph test, which means the lies on my application would eventually come up about my drug use. So I decided I would take a risk and let them know now, which was kind of a dumb idea because I was still in my probationary time. So basically, they fired me. So they fired you? Yeah. What was your drugs of choice? In the beginning, it started out with just pot. And then from there I went to cocaine. Pot is a great starter. Yeah. It'll get you going cocaine and then pills like Xanax, VicAs and things like that. I tried Oxycotin once and I liked it too much. I never did it again because those are pretty addictive. Smart man. Yeah, sure to hear the rest. And then I tried ecstasy once and didn't really like it and never did it again for a long time. And then actually, I was working at the federal prison. I went to Miami and hung out with some old friends from Church there. And that's when I first time I actually did XC, and it was better stuff, stronger. I see. And then from there, then Molly became pretty famous MDMA and did that a lot and an acid and then just mix everything. I have to ask you. I'm just curious. Do you feel like you were a selfish person back then, or did you care for people? Did you care about how your actions were affecting those around you? That's a good question. Did it ever go through your mind or were you just so busy living your own life. Yeah, I would say probably not, because I was working a lot. So at this point, when I was really getting heavy in the drugs, I was working as a chef. So I got fired from the prison, started a lawn service with my brother. Can't smoke more grass than you cut. So it failed. So I went to culinary school from there for a year and culinary school and became a chef. And then I got a job at a restaurant. And so I started the dishwasher. I worked my way up, and then I was managing the kitchen three nights a week, working like, 60 hours a week on salary. What kind of restaurant were you working at? It was a hipster type restaurant where they changed the menu every week and never repeat anything. So half the menu changed every week. So every two weeks, you got a brand new menu and nothing was ever repeated, like, different kinds of food completely. So we always had a steak, fish, a burger, and a chicken dish. But the way it was prepared or the sides, that was all different. It's kind of interesting. It's pretty awesome. Yeah. I was doing something new. You eat so many different types of foods that are absolutely terrible for you. But I had lamb brains once in the restaurant, they were serving Lambone lambins. It was like a flavorless marshmallow. Jelly ish like a jelly marshmallow. So kind of like how your brain was back then. Yeah, exactly. I was trying to get some brains. Yeah. Drug use got worse there. I was working a lot. So it's pretty much work party sometimes three times a week, just getting up till three 4 hours trying to juggle the party life and the work life. That's difficult. Sometimes I go to work still high, still rolling from the night before. Did anybody notice that you know of not that I know of. Yeah. What was going through your mind during that time? Josh, did you feel invincible? Did you feel like the world couldn't catch up to you? Yeah. I was chirping one time on acid and Molly and I looked in the mirror. I told myself I was God. Yeah. Pretty invincible feeling there. Wow. Cocky much. Oh, yeah. Super cocky. Did you lose any friends during that time? I was still friends with everyone from high school, like, all my friends from high school were all still pretty good friends. Yeah. Actually, I did lose a friend. It was actually the night I told myself I was God, he had never done LSD or there were times where I felt like my heart was going to explode. I was laying in my room and just high out of my mind and wondering if this was going to be the end of it. It's funny, because one time we were having a party at our house, and I was just walking from the kitchen to my room high as a kite partying. Everyone's having a great time. And I just got this feeling, like, almost like a movie. Just like, the thought that went through my mind was my probation just closed, and it was just like, Whoa. All right. Let's keep going. And it was crazy. That was really crazy. So in a way, you knew that what you were doing was the road. You did not want to go down, but yet you kept going down. It. Yeah. The first time you drink, it's like, oh, this is kind of, you know, it's bad, but then you get drunk and you don't think about it. Maybe you do. But you were conscious of the low that you were at. Yeah, it was crazy. The life we were living, and I was going to say something. I forgot what it was. So did culinary school take you anywhere else? No. So I was working way too much partying way too hard. And I ended up talking to my boss. I was selling drugs, too. Oh, obviously. Sure. Because you get cheaper and you can just break even make some money. Yeah. I talked to my boss about either working less hours or getting a raise because I told him I was doing things for money I don't want to do. And he basically thinking back, I don't know if he was firing me that night, but the way he handled it was pretty terrible. So he just went upstairs, and then they said, so. And so once you up there the boss. And I said, okay, so I went up there and he was like, Give me your keys, the keys to the restaurant. And I was like, okay, I'll give it to him. He's like, Give me your phone. I had a company phone. I was like, I'm going to erase the stuff on my phone. I'll bring it to you tomorrow. He's like, give it to me now. And I was like, I'm not going to give it to you. So he's like, Get out of my blah, blah, blah restaurant, blah, blah, blah, drug dealer in front of customers. Wow. I was like, Seriously, he's like, get out of my restaurant. So I'm not sure if I was fired at that point. And I probably could have made it better the next day. But as I walked through the kitchen, the one of the cooks was wrapping everything up, wrapping all the food up, and I threw it all on the floor. And he chased me in the parking lot. And we had a big blow out in the parking lot. And I ended up smashing the phone in the concrete, telling if they wanted to hire me, if you wanted me to work, they'd have to give me $1,500. It was crazy. We were all drunk during that time when that happened. Probably. I want to say, drunk drunk. But I had a free bar tab at that. So once we start closing down. We start drinking. And they were like, 89% beers and now down to pretty quickly before we got done. So at least a little loose and cocky and confident and everything we talked about. Sure. Did you ever have any close calls with the law during this time? One night at a party, the cop showed up at the house and no one wanted to answer the door. I mean, the house was packed. I think it was my 25th birthday, which was a huge shenanigans. We had a DJ, we had a slide inflatable slide. I mean, it was a dunk tank. It was a big old shenanigans. So the cop showed up and everyone's freaking out because there's bongs everywhere. There's drugs on the table. Everyone is just in a different world. And so I was like, I'll go talk to them. So I go to the door and my eyes are rolling in the back of my head. And I'm just trying to tell them they're saying all the neighbors complaining, and I can't remember if they said, can we come in? I was like, no, thank you. Have a good day and basically close the door because they can't come in. Yeah. So that would have been pretty bad. So I got fired that night from the restaurant. And then I can't wait to forgot about this night in jail. Pretty major deal. Yeah. So I got fired. And then, like, two weeks later, I got a DUI. So I passed out, going through a stop sign and woke up. And it was amazing. It was a miracle that my friend is still alive because as I'm going through the stop sign, I pass out or I pass out before the stop sign, going through it. And God just wakes me up. And I don't look to the left. I don't look for my phone. I don't look up, don't look straight. I look to the right and I see two headlights coming and they're close. So I step on the gas. And as soon as the car jerks forward, boom, we're hit. I was in a 2002 2001 Volkswagen Jetta, and we got hit by 98 Suburban. So a monster, like, 8000 pound car boom hits us. And the impact of the Suburban on the Volkswagen was four inches behind the glass of the passenger window, which is where my friend's head was. He was sleeping. And so I looked to the left, look straight, look down, look for my phone. Like I wouldn't have pushed a gas when I did. And he would have been dead. His brains would have been all over my lap. Oh, wow. No doubt. So, yeah, I got arrested that night. Probation. That whole gambit. Well, I can personally say I've seen photos of the car, and it's crazy that you guys made it out alive. Yeah. Axle snapped in, half, trunk blew open. I mean, it was just crazy. And the chassis on the Suburban, the Suburban is bent like you just see, the back end is bent on it. And the whole hood in the front is basically in the passenger seat of the car of the Suburban. Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. Pretty nuts. But of course, the drunk people made it out fine. Like always was anybody else her. I think she broke her leg. That's what I was told. Wow. So thank God. Nothing serious. I mean, I don't know how bad her leg was broken if she has issues with it now. So we walked away. Thank God. So you got a DUI, spent a night in jail, spent a night in jail. And it's funny because the Colonel that worked at the prison that I worked at, he was now working at the jail, and another classmate was there that was worked for the Sheriff's Department at the jail. So I got to run into some friends that I didn't really want to run into because they were outstanding citizens. And I was below par. Something that I wanted to ask you is during this time, did you have your own place? Are you just crashing on friends couches? I had my own place, but I slept on couches a lot. We had a four bedroom house in Tampa, which was our party house and lived with three roommates there. And then once I got the DUI, pretty much my lease wasn't even up. It's kind of all a blur. Like I just started living with my parents and then go to a friend's house or stay at my brother's house or wherever I could crash. Yeah. So now I had no car, no driver's license. Pretty low spot, I think, for people who may be listening to this, some people who may be in some type of situation similar to what you experienced, I think I would say. And maybe you would agree with me that if you want to get out of that situation, it's very important to separate yourself away from those people. You have to push you to do those things, continue doing those things. Yeah. A lot of times. That means moving out of the house that you're in with the roommates that you're with. You come home every single day and there they are. And as good jug friends do. Hey, here's the pipe. Here's the exactly have a beer, take a shot of whiskey because I was still going and parting on the weekends. And even though I just got this DUI and probation is coming, I failed my first drug test on probation. It hadn't changed me. Sure. Yeah. You definitely have to get out, though. It's hard, but once you're out, those people never reach out to you again. They don't. And it's like you're only friends because you're doing the same thing. But your relationship is so superficial. It's all about let's get drunk or let's go to the club. Let's go to strip club. Let's do this, which is hard. It's hard to lose those friends because you feel like they are your only friends. And your relationship is bound up in so much emotion and all these good feelings and all these good memories that you don't remember half of them later. But when you're rolling with people, you feel better than anything. And so there's that connection, and everyone looks out for each other. You make sure they have water and overheating. But as soon as you're out of that situation, it's like you don't exist. Yeah. So you lost a lot of friends ultimately. Yeah. You think they're friends until you're out of that? Yeah. So after the accident, at what point? Obviously, you're not doing those things now. You probably wouldn't be on the podcast if you were. No offense, Josh, but if you were still doing these things, you wouldn't be on the Simply Overcoming podcast. What turned you around? What ultimately changed your life? Was it that accident? I mean, at some point, something had to have clicked in your head. Yeah. The accident was definitely, I would say, probably a major pivotal point. Firing was getting fired was definitely a big one. I had some big dreams for the culinary field, and I was excelling. They wanted me to enter competitions and be get the greatest up and coming, chef, which if you get that in your career, you're pretty much set forever. Yeah. And so that was a really hard hit for me. And then getting the DUI, like, two weeks later, that was just no car, no license. You're just like these bums that you used to talk about after you graduated high school, you're like, oh, man, he's in jail now, and he's in jail, and now I'm sitting in jail. You're that guy. I'm the guy. And the thing is, you came from a background that helped you recognize that this is not where you would want to be, exactly. And that's important, too. Yeah. That's a major blessing coming from that background, because all those seeds are in there. All that wisdom is in there, and everything you know is wrong is in there. But you're doing it anyways. And finally, you realize, like, look where I've gone. Had I listened, I wouldn't be here. Yeah. I really want to be on chop. That was like, my dream. Get on chopped and chopped people and win $10,000 because I had the skill. I just need to get faster. That's the only thing I was working on. Yeah. So the accident happened. And then I was working at my parents thrift store, which was if you work at a thrift store. I'm sorry. It's really boring. We love you anyways. Lots of what's sitting around dusting, cleaning, dusting, more cleaning make the place look presentable. Yeah. And sifting through people's clothes that they haven't washed in, like, three months. And it's the only thing they wore. And it's terrible. You get a bag of this and you open it, and you just take it to the dumpster. It's gross. So it was like a month or two of that coming from a fast paced kitchen job, just cleaning dust off of people's junk and putting stickers on it. Definitely not where you wanted to be, not where I wanted to be. So there happened to be a youth program at my parents Church called Youth for Jesus. My mom said if you go work in the kitchen where they need help, you'll get paid $100 more than you're making here a month or a week. I was like, great. I'll do. It. Turns out my mom was paying because it's a volunteer position. She just want me to be at the program. So I found out later. I'm thankful for. Yeah, but I was working there cooking breakfast and lunch for the kids. So I'm up at four or five in the morning. Structure? Yeah, structure. Good. Plant based food from eating all lamb brains and all the pork I could stomach and everything else they have. So you're eating a plant based diet now? Eating a plant based diet regimented. But I was still on the weekends when I wasn't cooking. My friends would pick me up and we go get drunk. We go get high. We still do everything during that time. So I was actually dating a girl from work and we had broken up, and I was just break up the accident, getting fired. I was, like, going crazy. And so at this point in my life, I was having pretty serious bouts of sleep paralysis. You know what that is? I do. Yes, sleep paralysis. But maybe you should explain it to people who don't know what sleep paralysis is. So sleep paralysis is what I believe, just demonic activity. But scientifically, it's where you are asleep and you feel people holding you down or a presence holding you down. You can see it, but you're paralyzed. You can't scream. You can't cry out for help, you can't move. So is this while you're in a dream state, or are you actually awake and paralyzed? I mean, I could look around the room with my eyes. I could see everything in the room. I could see the first time. It was absolutely nuts. And it was the worst situation scariest. So I'm at my mom's house in the living room and sleeping on her couch. And I wake up because that feeling when someone's looking at you, you get that feeling. It's like, super intense. I opened my eyes and there was this woman hovering over me with long Gray stringy hair. And like, this big black dress almost looked like the lady from a Little Mermaid. But sin. Dude, that's freaky. I know Ursula, but thin. Nobody wants that. No. And so no tentacles. Just a big black dress. So I'm like, you got to be kidding me. So I just closed my eyes and I look and she's like, right in my face. And then she picks me up off the couch, and I'm like, Levitating on the couch. And then she sits me up and then lays me back down and then pins me into the couch. And I'm sitting here fighting this woman for, like, 5 hours. 4 hours. 4 hours. It was just did it feel like 4 hours or was it 4 hours? It was 4 hours? Wow. Yeah. I think there was a clock on one of those digital. And you actually Levitated. Yeah. I was, like, off the couch. Dude, it was crazy. What? Absolutely crazy. Yeah. That was a sleepless night. Well, really. Yeah. And here's the thing about at least my bouncy sleep paralysis. Whenever the demon would come in, I was in for the ride. Like, never was I able to stop it. They say it's because you sleep on your back. And so that does something that causes you to have it. So I was trying everything and nothing would stop. Interesting. Yeah. So I was having these balance every night at the youth program. And 400 in the morning, I would wake up to go work the breakup. I was also working on opening a restaurant. Since I got fired. I was going to open my own, working on getting my liquor license. I was creating a menu. So when I wasn't working, when I got off of work around two, I was working on that till the evening. Then try and sleep fight demons wake up at four. Wow. I was going nuts. I was just losing it. There was a young guy at the program, and he was like, hey, I just learned something today. They're doing evangelism training and Bible study and stuff. He said, I want to share something with you. I don't remember what he shared to me. It made no sense. It was irrelevant. But the fact that he just wanted to share something with you from the Bible, it just really impacted me. It was just so small. It didn't turn you off or anything. No. So the youth were inviting me to the evangelistic series. That was happening. I went a couple of times, and then there was a choir, and I used to see in choir growing up. So that was nice to do. And then all these sleepless nights and just going crazy. So I prayed a prayer. I basically confessed every sin that I can think of. That I had done in the past nine years. I mean, I just went through the list and I said, God, just please help me get some sleep tonight. And so this night, the demon came in the room, but for the first time ever, I sat up and didn't get attacked. Wow. That was an amazing night. I finally got to sleep and never happened again. That was the end of sleep paralysis. Wow. Yeah. So they were going to have some baptisms at the end of the meetings. And the pastor was like, hey, Josh, you're going to get baptized next Tuesday. And I was like, yeah, thinking about it. But I really wasn't. I just want to let the pastor off. Nice. Yeah. My grandfather passed away. The last time I saw my grandfather was the day of the baptisms. And long story short, I ended up getting baptized that night. It was crazy. It was a miracle. So I got baptized that Tuesday, gave my testimony Friday, talked to Lisa on Sabbath. She tells me, Would you like to come? Yeah, she has one $500. And I was like, Ain't got money for that. And she said, Well, somebody said they would pay for your tuition. $5,600. I was like, wow, she said, I got to get is your plane ticket. And I was like, I don't have money for a plane ticket. She said, I'll get your plane ticket. I was like, all right. She said, okay, the only thing is classes start on Monday. And I was like, my first visit at probation was Monday. And Monday was my grandfather's funeral. So I said, I can't be there Monday. I'll be there Tuesday. And I was on a plane in Colorado. Tuesday, I get to Eden Valley, and I'm unbacking my carryon. And there is a prison shank that I had taken to show the youth in my carryon. And then once the cold came around, I go in my coat pocket, and there's a bag of cocaine in my coat pocket. Still, you've got cocaine in your jacket pocket on the plane. And a shank and a shank on the plane on the plane. How did you get this on the plane? It was made invisible, I guess, because I would have gone to prison. Those guys, you don't typically get a bag of cocaine and a shank through security, except my scenario. Except your scenario. Okay. I flushed it so often I think something that people can feel is just that feeling of unworthiness like, this. Like, I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough for this. Yeah. Like, how am I here? How did I go from this place? And then I'm in Eden Valley with cocaine in a shank, you have to feel like, what am I doing? Yeah. I think I felt so free at that point because of everything I was doing. And now I was liberated from that. And I always wanted to go to Colorado, and it was just 500 acres of the foothills of the Rockies. And I was just hiking and running. And I was a new person. Did you get to climb some peaks while you're in Colorado? Nothing like you would do? No. Fourteenrs, no. Fourteenrs. That's a shame. We almost drove to the top of what's? The Pike's Peak? Yeah. Pike's Peak is pretty cool, man. That's a cool drive my dad couldn't handle once we got by the tree line. So we had to go back. Really? Having elevation sickness or something? No, just too open. He's a Florida man used to that flat land 11,000ft higher than he's used to at this point in your life. Is there any thought that if you did go back to being with those types of people, would it affect you in a negative way? I think about it often, especially now that we're moving back to Florida at the end of the year. I think if I hung out with them a lot, it could possibly. I'm not going to say I'm invincible, and there's no way I could ever go back because I went down that road before. But it's not like I want to shut them out and shut them out and be like, I'm too good for you guys either. I'd love to reach out to them and try to get influence to them every once in a while. Yeah. And maybe they can see what they're missing out on and how happy I am now. Yeah. You have a great support system there, too. I mean, your wife hope she's beyond amazing. Josh, let us know. What are you doing now? You're going to be moving to Florida, going to school to be a nurse. Yeah. And we're just actually why I'm here in your studio because we've created a wellness coaching kit that helps anybody that wants to do wellness coaching or health partnering because it's not a certified program. Yeah, that's right. They can do it. It's got everything they need, huh? Yeah. I've seen the manuals. You brought up your kit, and I got to take a look at it. And I do have to say just from looking at it that even somebody like me could be a health coach and help impact and change people's lives by using this kit. It's really cool what you guys have done. It's just awesome. And it's going to change a lot of lives. Definitely going to change a lot of lives. So what's your website? Where can people learn more about this? What is it called again? The program is called The Whole Life. The Whole Life, the Whole life. But our website is grandfinallysiminars. Com. Grandsiminars. Com. Go check it out. Guys, if you want to be a health coach, if you're interested in being a health coach, you have such an amazing story. And in an hour podcast, you're just barely skipping over the surface of what you've been through. But I just want you to speak to anybody out there who may be dealing with some of the things that you dealt with. What would you say? What would you say to these people? God is bigger than all your addictions, all your problems, everything you're struggling with, so don't ever feel like you're too bad. God doesn't want you. He's dying for you to come back. And I was in deep, crazy mess. And look where I am now. Married. The best wife ever. I got a beautiful son. I couldn't have a better life. Hands down. Best life I could ever have I've been told you before the podcast. There's some things I won't share. That deep, dark secrets. I'll never tell anyone. My wife doesn't know. She doesn't need to know. Nobody needs to know. It's all gone. I can forget about it because God has forgotten about it. Yeah. And for anybody out there who is dealing with drug abuse or alcohol abuse, there are so many resources out there that you can go through. If you're feeling like you are in a really bad place and you want your life to change, and ultimately, that's the first step. You have to want to change. You have to want to change. And if you want to change, there are resources. There are people who will help you. There are people who care for you and want to help people like you. So don't be afraid to step out. Don't be afraid to move forward in your life and push towards positive change. Yeah. And if they want to reach out to me or anything, just go to our website. My information is on there. They can email me or give me a phone call. Excellent. Josh, thank you so much for being on the podcast. It was really great. And I learned a few new things about you, and I hope that we have been able to inspire the people who are listening to the podcast and to those listeners out there who have made it all the way through the podcast. Thank you once again for sticking around. Yeah. Overcome live a life of intention. It's possible. It is possible for everyone. Alright. We'll see you guys next time.