Resisting temptation is something that requires a strong heart as well as self-discipline. Many normal people are addicted to drugs such as heroin and marijuana. There are many others who are addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and dosing themselves with other substances that ruin their lives.
You get addicted to these substances when you put them into your body. An addiction is something or someone that you crave. You must fulfill your addiction simply because you come to need something.
One of the most heartwarming stories of overcoming addiction is the story of Josh Hamilton. Though it is not a story that happened all that long ago, Hamilton’s tale is a perfect example that everybody makes mistakes.
Born May 20, 1981 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Hamilton grew up with a safe family who had deeply cared for him and nurtured his miraculous talent for the game of baseball. He grew up playing baseball as a young child all the way through college and so many saw a great future in him.
In high school, he was the No. 1 player in the country. He had a stellar batting average of .556 and was the projected No. 1 pick in the MLB draft. But that was not all; Hamilton had gone 7-1 that season as a pitcher. Fans were ecstatic about him and the respect level was very high.
Hamilton was dedicated to baseball more than anything. Teammates and coaches referred to him as a "very nice and humble kid." Hamilton was so passionate for baseball that he never bothered to even date in high school. He was seen as the future of baseball and was referred to the "Golden Boy" by everyone around him.
Hamilton then signed a $3.96 million signing bonus to join the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' organization after being drafted first overall. For two seasons, he dominated down in the minor league complex and everyone knew that he could be one of the best of his generation. But prior to the 2001 season, Hamilton's life hit a tragic stop sign.
Just as his future was looking bright, it all changed in a matter of seconds, and the news shocked the baseball nation. One sound and peaceful night, Hamilton was just on his way home in his car and out of nowhere, another car struck him and he had sustained several injuries.
Hamilton's story would not be of a great whose career was cut short, however; this would not sideline him forever, but he would need time away from the game to heal.
With a boatload of time on his hands, Hamilton started making bad choices and giving up on his goal to ever play baseball again. He had joined the wrong group of people who would lead him to nowhere but trouble. He began hanging out at a tattoo parlor with some new friends he had met. From there, Hamilton started to get all kinds of tattoos—tattoos he didn't even know the meaning of.
"Tattoos became drinks. Drinks became powder. Powder became crack," said an anonymous relative of Hamilton.
This began to affect his career as Hamilton returned to the Devil Ray's complex, and only played 56 games until he took the rest of the season off do to the personal demons he was facing in his life.
He was now seen as the disaster of the organization. People were saying he was a mistake after his 30-game suspension for marijuana use. From then on, Hamilton missed playing for two seasons (2004-06)
As those two years passed, Hamilton had an epiphany. He wanted this addiction to end because he knew this wasn't who he was.
"I prayed to be spared another day of guilt and depression and addiction," Hamilton wrote in his book, Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back. "I couldn't continue living the life of a crack addict, and I couldn't stop, either. It was a horrible downward spiral that I had to pull out of, or die. I lay there—in a hot and dirty trailer in the North Carolina countryside, in a stranger's house, in the cab of my pickup—and prayed the Lord would take me away from the nightmare my life had become."
This feeling of addiction could be stopped. He had a loving wife and millions of adoring admirers and fans knowing what could have been. He was not going to let everybody that cared for him down.
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