In 2008, I was 25, and I was dying. Okay not literally. But figuratively, I was at the end. It was the beginning of my personal development journey – I just didn’t know it yet.
STRUGGLES WITH ALCOHOLISM AND DEPRESSION
I struggled with depression and alcoholism for years. I remember the first time I deeply pondered the meaning of life, lying in a bed in my grandma’s spare room sometime in my early middle school years. It was the first time I felt truly hopeless. Had I been able to predict the future, I would have seen it as a foreshadowing of the hopelessness I would continue to feel off and on for years to come.
I began drinking at a young age, pulling drinks from my parents’ cocktails or steeling beers when no one was looking. At 15, I got drunk for the first time and it was a truly magical experience. I was overwhelmingly happy, outgoing, and carefree, and I couldn’t wait to do it again. And I did, as often as was possible for a teenager. Drinking “cured” my depression, enabling me to mask it or drown myself enough to forget about it on the occasions it would pop up.
I think the funniest thing about alcoholism is that it doesn’t look any one way. My bottom ten years after that first drunk was not one of homelessness or being penniless or in prison. Sure, I had been arrested on alcohol-related charges, twice. But on paper it looked like I had my life completely put together. After all, I started my career at 21, the same year I bought my first home. I had friendships and romantic relationships, and I seemed mostly put together.
The bottom for me was depression. After that second arrest, a DUI charge in March 2008, I began controlling my drinking. I reasoned that if I just allowed myself a set amount of alcohol each time I drank, I would be fine. It didn’t work. I was soon in the depths of a depression from which I couldn’t seem to crawl out of.
Both drunk and depressed, I felt like I had reached what some people call “a jumping off point” where I was ready to change. In fact, I was not only ready – I was desperate.
I sought out help and slowly, one day at a time, I overcame my drinking problem. It took a lot of work, and I had to get really uncomfortable before things got easier. I am proud to report that I have been sober off of alcohol and mind and mood-altering chemicals ever since.
At about a month sober, I sought help from a doctor for treatment for my depression. It took some time to find the right treatment plan for me. Some of the things we tried didn’t work as we had hoped, but we finally found what did. As a result, I have had a life free from it ever since, with only the occasional relapse.
PAIN IS THE TOUCHSTONE TO GROWTH
“Pain is the touchstone to growth,” I have heard so often, and for me that was true. I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I should really try this personal development thing.” But instead, I was in enough pain that I had no choice but to seek out a new way of life in 2008.
My journey over the past thirteen years has not always been easy and it has not always been pretty. I have grown, and I have made mistakes, sometimes big ones. My path has been one of ups and downs, progress, stalemate, and yes, even regression. I have helped people, and I have, unfortunately, hurt people. I have had big wins professionally and personally, financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually – and I have also walked through some really hard times where I have felt like I was at rock bottom all over again. But the thing that I have always tried to keep consistent in my life these past thirteen years has been learning – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly – with the goal to grow from where I am at that time.
The pivotal point in my life was facing my alcoholism and my depression. But I have also struggled with things like anger, emotional eating, imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, abandonment issues, lack of discipline, relationships, and finances. Honestly, you name it, and I feel like I’ve probably struggled with it. By using different resources though, I have walked through all of these things and so much more.
SERVING OTHERS
It has been years since I’ve shared my writing on the internet, but I have been feeling more and more called to get back to writing and sharing with the world. I have been taught that being of service to my fellow man is of the utmost importance, and I believe that writing and sharing my experiences and what I have learned is a way that I can be of service to the most people.
Through A Growth Mindset blog, I will explore what it means to have a growth mindset and share on topics that pertain to personal development and growth – health, finances, discipline, communication, happiness, productivity, and more. I will share my personal experiences, as well as report on different books I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, to provide free content to you, my reader, to help you live your best life.
I believe so strongly in personal growth and personal development. I believe we constantly have to be evolving and growing and striving to be better than we were yesterday. I believe that if we are not growing, we are standing still and that if we stand still for too long, we will eventually go backwards. Through A Growth Mindset, I want to share what I have learned and create a community and a safe place where we can all grow together.
LET’S GROW TOGETHER
So here’s to this new adventure! I’m excited to create my own little corner of the internet, and I hope that you will join me as I dive into different topics each week.
We only have one life to live, and I fully intend to make the most of it. How about you?
If there is anything specific that you’d like me to write on that pertains to personal development, please leave a comment below and let me know what you’d like me to explore. I hope this blog will serve my community of readers as much as it does me.
Until next time,
Jeri Austin
**If you struggle with alcoholism or depression, there is help available. I would be happy to talk to you more in detail about what I did. Please send me a message if you would like to talk more.
A Growth Mindset 
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