Meltdown: How I Recovered
When I was 21, I had a meltdown, and it nearly killed me
I’ve had a few meltdowns, but my most profound one came at the age of 21.
I had just been outed as a gambling addict, my girlfriend of 7 years left me, and most of my friends deserted me. My parents, rightly so, were disgusted.
The lowest point in the ocean
I couldn’t get any lower.
The only good thing about being at rock bottom is that you can’t get lower. But, the feeling didn’t go away for a long time.
I had nothing to live for. Not a single thing.
The love of my life was gone, and all my ‘friends’ were gone. My parents are ashamed.
Run
I had planned on moving from my home in Scotland to the south of England to be with an uncle and start from scratch.
I even considered just going away somewhere nobody would know about, cutting everyone out, going away, and restarting my life. Never to contact them again, friends, family, and all.
I looked at Ireland, Italy, and Spain. I could save up £20,000 in 6 months between wages and selling all my things and just get a flight and start over.
Spent about 2 months researching, all on my own. Nobody said a word to me at this time.
Then…
Olive branch
My girlfriend reached out.
I told her my plans. She was horrified. Her advice to me was that if I just decided to run from my problems, they would find me eventually.
She was right.
Owning up to my shortcomings
One night, during the week, I reached out to everyone.
I apologized for not being a good son, brother, friend, boyfriend, and colleague.
I asked my girlfriend if there was a chance for us and she said maybe. From there, I got a pen and paper and plotted out the next year of my life.
Then the next 3 years.
A happy ending
In the end, my girlfriend and I got back together, and we are 10+ years married with children.
I have 3 best friends.
My parents couldn’t be more proud. So they say.
In Short
Never run from your problems. Face them head-on or feet first.
I hope you got something from this article. Thanks for reading.
