The Blog2inspire Contest

Lets go back ten years ago when I was on welfare and suffering from a debilitating disorder called "Agoraphobia" (Inability to leave ones house or room). I also had a severe case of "Social Phobia" (Extremely high levels of stress when interacting with others one does not know). These two combined literally destroyed all attempts to succeed in life.

This was very difficult, as I sincerely wanted to excel and do many things, but things kept getting worse as I had to leave school, couldn't get a job to help support myself and get out of poverty. Living off $190 per month for many years is a most difficult feat that I would not bestow even on my worst enemy...It is a horrid experience, and is survival at its worst, forget the show 'survivor'.

Now, the as the story progresses I very slowly started to seek out things that would help me get out of my shell, and get closer to living the life I want and feel I deserve.

My journey begun with meditation, and taking long walks in high park. Then reading great books by inspirational authors gave me hope. I then met two very pivotal people who were generous to let me in participate their classes...one who was a yoga teacher who took me under his wing for a while, and the other an NLP Instructor. Their kind acts I believe saved my life, and transformed my bitterness towards people in general, because I felt that the no one gave a darn about people if they had no money (this is still sadly the case for many people..but not all people as my story is a testimony).

It has almost been ten years now, since my beginning struggles with "Agoraphobia", and not being able to go out in public during the day (down busy streets, malls, grocery stores...etc). I have since overcome this, which is remarkable and am making progress with my social phobia. I can go to malls, get groceries, and have even taken some small classes to upgrade my skills in business, I have business plans that I am now developing and readying to launch. Ive always wanted to own my own business, and I now own one. This is very huge considering were I was ten years ago. I still struggle and am constantly working on improving the condition I face. I am getting closer and closer to creating the life I want. Still have many miles to go, but progress begets more motivation and hope.

I once heard that "Patience, Passion, and Persistance will get you anywhere you want in life" That struck a chord within me, and will always stay with me.

Sincerely,

Martin
allcoat_gta@yahoo.ca