Download Behind the Dumpster: A Story of a Son's Addiction, a Father's Love, and a Bike Ride Ebook by David Cooke

Behind the Dumpster: A Story of a Son's Addiction, a Father's Love, and a Bike Ride

Once upon a time I was just another normal every day kind of Dad. Besides being a typical Dad I was also an accomplished author, an inspirational speaker, and a trusted, successful business adviser. Every day I would engage groups of people - large and small - working with them to help them manage the challenges most organizations typically deal with - increasing revenues, developing leaders, and improving teamwork. One day I found out that my youngest son's life had taken a serious detour - he was in trouble with the law, homeless, and living on the street. The poison in his life was a heroin addiction that caused his life to completely spiral out of control. Because of this I completely interrupted every activity in my life to help my son deal with this adversity. I committed every ounce of physical and emotional energy to help my son get his life straightened out and back on track. Because of this commitment my life became very complicated and entangled with my son's addiction driven problems. The more he struggled with his addiction, the more it adversely affected every aspect of my life, including my business, my health, my personal relationships and my physical and emotional stability. Until I finally broke free and started riding my bicycle. And, I rode. I rode every single day, for one hundred consecutive days, at least one hour on every ride. While on these bike rides I discovered the clarity and the control I needed most at that time. The meditative experiences of these bikes rides completely transformed my life and provided me with powerful insights for dealing with life's adversities, including the one that was causing me the most pain -- my son's addiction. Behind the Dumpster is a story of adversity, love, and the gift of clarity. It reveals the pain of my real life encounter with addiction and how I somehow managed to discover a gift that changed my life forever. Behind the Dumpster is honest, revealing, and inspiring. It is a story that hurts while bringing harsh reality to the painful experiences and lessons of addiction in the lives of those we love. It is also a celebration as I share the joy that comes with finding opportunity in the midst of life's worst experiences. It is my story. I am here to share it, hoping that you will find inspiration and guidance from it.