Lets talk about victim mentality for a second. I’ve experienced some pretty severe trauma in my life. I grew up in the 80’s in a broken home, in a tough neighborhood called the avenue in Ventura CA. Our neighbors were hells angels, Mexican mafia, white power gangs and then some.

Pit bulls on chains and fist fights were the norm, and I literally had Hells Angels hang and kill my dog (who I found) when I was 10 years old because my parents were in a dispute with the bikers next door who partied every night. It wasn’t an easy life and my mom did...

Everything she could to get us out of there as fast as possible.
I watched my mom get beat up by my step father too many times to count, and when I say it was violent, I’m talking him with an axe and us having to go into hiding violent.
I used to watch he and his friends...

Have parties and do piles of cocaine off of mirrors when I was about 8 years old and while mom was working her waitressing job at night.
He was hard on us and dare I say abusive as he was a big scary Vietnam veteran and had a bit of a mean streak. Lucky for us my mom...

Was working to get us away from all of that and did...
Years later, after suffering a knee injury, my little brother Anthony was prescribed OxyContin for his pain. Little did any of us know if would start a 15 year struggle with opiates that would end with him being found not...

Breathing and unresponsive in a pile of his clothes at my moms house during the Christmas holiday.
He spent over a week on machines, and after us trying everything to save him, we had to make the awful decision to take him off of if life support late on Christmas Eve...

I lost my best friend, and my little brother that night, he was 33 years old. It haunts me every day. The worst part is having to watch what it’s done to my mother. She’s been lost since then and I don’t blame her. She found her youngest son face down not breathing in her home...

It is something that’s not explainable to anyone who hasn’t experienced this type of trauma or loss.
I deal with it daily, and I am stuck with this feeling for the rest of my life.
That said, I will never, and have never let that loss turn me into a victim...

Am I angry at the way it was handled by authorities? Am I angry that open borders and organized crime were allowed to bring heroin across the border with ease for so long? Am I angry that he likely died from fentanyl that came from China? Am I angry that his financial status...

Kept him from being able to find treatment that was decent?
Am I mad that I couldn’t get answers from anyone?
YES, YES I AM. I am still not a victim, nor will I let this bring me down or turn me into someone I don’t want to be. It hurts my soul every day, but I still refuse...

to go to the dark side.
Meanwhile I have to sit back and watch people I know who grew up with well to do families, great careers, everyone adoring them, good looks, and basically no serious issues, sit back and cry online for attention. Saying things like they’re...

Depressed and on meds now because life is just too hard.
HARD?!? Paleeez.
To me it seems like a cop out from people who haven’t experienced trauma, and who are looking for attention in a time where society loves a victim and rewards people for their supposed bravery...

What they don’t realize is that when you experience something like a tragic death, it usually makes you tougher and harder. Yes some people run from it and look to pills to fix it all, but some of us face the pain head on and use it to become better people.
People who are...

there to help others through these experiences.
It’s made me appreciate every moment I’m alive so much more, and has given me the strength to be a great father and partner.
It changed me completely, but for the better.
I’m still not a victim.
I never will be...

I’m blessed and lucky to be alive, and I thank god for each and every day and breathe.
Victim mentality is just not for me.
I choose life.