From Dream 2 Reality

One facet at a time, I’ve been creating my own Crown Jewel. Fueled by 18 months of sobriety, this project has accelerated as if it were shot from a canon. I’m speaking of the amazing life I started building a few years ago.

What began as four years of self-discovery, transformed into multiple stages of rehabilitation. Finally, after one and a half years of carefully placing each brick into its proper destination, I’ve shifted into an even higher gear.

This is a cool way of saying that four weeks ago, I began a weight training program. In just ten days, I jumped from 214 pounds to 220 pounds. It’s been quite a few years since I hit the weights 4-5 times per week. I’m entirely committed to adding another 10 pounds of upper body muscle before the end of summer.

I didn’t want to wait this long for my physical rehab, but priories and self-control got the best of me. We are all capable of building the life of our dreams! I lost everything five years ago. Everything I owned had been compressed into two duffel bags. Stripping everything away from someone will change that individual forever. I believe this so much, I wrote a novel.

Joseph Shanklin

June 16, 2020