TRAINER'S EYE #62 - "Overcoming Substance Abuse with Pokemon" ft. The Card Library

Through Pokémon GO, The Card Library found his path to sobriety, turning to the world of Pokémon for structure and healing. In this emotional Pokémon interview, he reflects on his past struggles with substance abuse and how the magic of Pokémon reignited his sense of joy. Now, as a Pokémon Trading Card collector, he shares his journey and love for Pokémon cards with his growing Instagram community, offering pack openings and tips for fellow collectors.

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

Transcript

David Hernandez: 0:00

My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns. Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where the stories are real and people still play this game. The fun part when it comes to our Pokemon journeys is the different twists and turns they can take. When I learned about an individual's journey to sobriety, intertwining with their journey with Pokemon, I was compelled to invite them onto the show to share their story. Drug addiction is definitely a heavy topic. As many as 35 million people throughout the entire world are dealing with substance abuse in some shape or form. The road to sobriety is challenging from both a social standpoint, such as prior friends and habits, to even genetics where if your family has a history of drug addiction, you're more likely to fall victim to drug addiction as well. The one common factor between sobriety and Pokemon is that it's dangerous to go out alone. You need friends. You need companionship. And for my guest today, you need Pokemon. From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go. This is the Card Library. Today, I'm joined by someone you may have never heard before, but after this episode, you hopefully won't forget. He's here to share how he overcame drug addiction with Pokemon., the Card Library. Welcome to the show.

The Card Library: 1:57

Hey, thanks for having me man, I'm pumped to be here

David Hernandez: 2:00

Definitely, and were talking before we started recording, on how it took a couple months because my message went to your spam box. And the fact that you started hinting at your story a couple of years ago and I'm excited to see how Pokemon has been able to keep you off drugs. My first question is this though, is how long have you been clean?

The Card Library: 2:18

sure so I've been clean for a little over five years I can actually probably get an exact Number because I have a fancy little app that tells me. Five years four months and six days today So it's been a little bit.

David Hernandez: 2:31

And how has your life changed now that you've become clean compared to when you were using drugs?

The Card Library: 2:37

it's almost indescribable, right? a lot of people, including myself, when they're living in active addiction, once they realize that this is not the way they want to live anymore, they just want a normal, good, productive life, right? and so that's what I set out to do when I went to go get clean, right? I just wanted to have a good life that I was proud of and enjoyed being a part of every day. And that's, where we're at, right? Like, I'm grateful for the life that I have today. I have all the things that are quote unquote normal, right? I have a place to live. I'm Married to a woman I really care about all of these things that seemed so impossible, right? Like I'm getting my master's right now All of these things that were impossible when I was living in active addiction there was so much more room for them to come into my life Once I did get clean

David Hernandez: 3:25

Yeah, that's fair. And before we dive into more of the heavy stuff, which we will get to heavy for sure, when did you first start playing Pokemon Go?

The Card Library: 3:33

I started the day after it came out. I wish I could say I was one of those people with the, 7 6 2016 badge in my app. But I started on July 7th, 2016. I've been a Pokemon fan my whole life, so this was a no brainer when the app released, of course I'm gonna get out there and see what this is about.

David Hernandez: 3:50

What was it about Pokemon Go that appealed to you?

The Card Library: 3:53

it was just like a really accessible Pokemon game for me. Right. To have on my phone, I could have it open on my desk at work. on the bus, walking around campus, right? It was a way that Pokemon could travel with me everywhere. I've played all the Nintendo DS games and all the way back to the Game Boy games, not to date myself, right? But Pokemon Red was my first Pokemon game. but this is like a different level of accessibility to Pokemon for me, right? always in my pocket, didn't have to turn a whole system on, right? Hit the app, you're in the Pokemon world, right, and there's Pokemon all around you to catch, and I was just like, immediately, obsessed with this game, right, like oh, this is a fun thing, and I'm gonna play this for a long time.

David Hernandez: 4:33

Where would you go to play when the game first launched?

The Card Library: 4:36

So, when it first launched, I lived in like a more, suburban, rural area, right? I've had two very distinct playing experiences, right? when it first launched, I would walk around my office building, I would have it out in the grocery store, you know, these places that had high like density of spawns, right? whereas like my house where I lived was in the middle of nowhere. So I was like on this like desert Pokemon island, when I was just sitting on my couch, right? And now that I'm in Philly, there's so many great places, there's parks, there's trails, if you're just out to eat at a restaurant, you're within range of, God knows how many Pokestops or gyms, right? So, the landscape of what playing has looked like for me, has changed with where I've lived.

David Hernandez: 5:16

You said how you currently live in Philly So where do people go for say like a raid day or community day?

The Card Library: 5:21

So there's major places like, Washington Square Park or Rittenhouse, which are like right in center city. but like any park, like any little enclave of green within the city of Philadelphia is a great place to go for like GoFest is a lot of fun at like Rittenhouse, right? I like to play the game like who else is here playing Pokemon Go and if you really pay attention you can it's obvious right people who are walking around in circles for four hours with their phones out with their charging banks with the wire going to their backpack, right? Like, oh, there's somebody that's somebody I can go talk to. and these parks are like, A city block in size. So they're pretty big, right. And for a park in the middle of a city these are all really fun places in Philly to play.

David Hernandez: 6:01

Now the one thing about Pokemon Go is that there's multiple ways to play this game. There's people who collect, there's people who shiny hunt, there's people who do PvP. What's your way to engage with this game? What do you like to do?

The Card Library: 6:11

Oh, I'm a collector through and through. and as I was mentioned to you I do other things in the Pokemon world, right? Like I love collecting cards like to me, Pokemon is about as corny as it sounds, it's about getting, catching them all, right? Like it's about going out there and catching all of them and filling your Pokédex and that's how I play this game. Like I'm never more driven than when there's a new Pokémon out there or a new shiny that I don't have. That's what I want to do. I want to go get that. if I need to get X amount of candies, that's my goal until it happens. Right. so I'm definitely a collector. I like filling the Pokédex. I like shiny hunting, shiny hunting is actually a relatively new thing for me with Pokemon Go. because of the accessibility of the game for me, like I was able to really dive into The world of Pokemon at a much deeper level. Before Pokemon Go, I didn't even know what a Shiny was I had to like, look it up on Reddit like, Is it Shiny? like, I don't understand, right? And I caught my first Shiny in Pokemon Go. it was an Alteria. and That's just been such a fun thing for me, since then. And I've taken that back to the switch and like, in Scarlet and Violet and Sword and Shield, I've shiny hunted on there too. Right. So I have a lot of fun doing that, in the game.

David Hernandez: 7:20

Do you have a favorite Pokemon at all?

The Card Library: 7:22

I do Decidueye. That's my guy. he's like this like weird mix of a Pokemon and maybe like Link from Zelda. Decidueye is my main, not Hisuian Decidueye, the OG Decidueye, that's my guy.

David Hernandez: 7:34

That's what I was about to ask because this Hisuian Decidueye, I don't care for as much as myself. But it reminds me of, they're like the, I don't know, it sounds like you play Legend of Zelda. You remember those bosses that would shoot like apricots or apricorns to the Link?

The Card Library: 7:47

yeah. That's absolutely right. Yeah. I never even thought of that. you know what it is like, and for me, it's such a nostalgia thing, right? Like Hisuian Decidueye might mean something more to me in like five years, right? But right now it's like, you know, it came out in Legends Arceus, like it's still a little new. So like, I'm a fan, but like, I don't get the same feeling when we're talking about Decidueyes here, right? I'm here for the OG.

David Hernandez: 8:09

Have you stuck with Pokemon throughout, since Gen 1 to now?

The Card Library: 8:12

that's a really good question. The answer to that is no. gen one, right. I was nine years old and that's prime time, right? Like Pokemon was awesome. I had the game boy at all of it. Right. And then like, I got a little older and other things took priority for me. Right. And then, this is unfortunate, but I was like, all right, like, I'm in high school. I'd love a girlfriend. I gotta switch what I'm doing here, right? and looking back on that, it was probably real for me because that's how I felt Right, but from like high school to really when I got clean, five years ago, pokemon Was certainly not as big of a part of my life as it is today. And that's an interesting part of getting clean, you know, you sort of go back to where you left off. Right. and I started really diving into drugs and alcohol senior year of high school and then when I was in college and then, after college and, during that time, there's no, for me, right, there was no personal growth. There was no really enjoyment of anything that actually brought me joy. Right. So, after I had like a month or two clean, I was like, what do I even like, what do I like to do? And Pokemon was like one of the first things that popped in my head. and it's funny cause the last time I really cared about it. I was a little kid, I'm 34 now, you know, like, I'm not old, but like, I'm certainly whether I like it or not, I'm an adult, right. With like adult responsibilities and stuff. Once I put the drugs down what am I gonna pick up? You know? I put this down. What am I gonna pick up now? Right? I didn't think hard about it. It just felt natural I was like i'm gonna get a nintendo ds And I'm going to play Pokemon because that's something I remember loving.

David Hernandez: 9:41

Did you feel that once you got clean, that maybe the entire time that you were, doing drugs and doing alcohol, that your life, basically stopped?

The Card Library: 9:48

Oh, absolutely. and it stops in like a more insidious way than you can think, right. Like. It stops like emotionally, it stops spiritually. Right. But like why it's so hard is it doesn't, actually stop. you still get older, you still meet people, you still can hurt people. You can still get friends and lose them. You can still get jobs and lose them. You can still, all of these things still happen to you. it's just whether or not you're there for it and going along with the ride or like digging your heels in and just trying to get one more hit of your drug of choice or, organizing your money in such a way that, you'll be able to buy drugs or, I'll, I'm going to the bar this weekend. I want to make sure I can go to the bar, right? Like it takes Precedent over everything else. And because of that, everything else falls away. And before you know it, it's been 10, 15 years and you're like, what the hell am I doing? it's like I fell asleep when I was 18 and I woke up when I was 28, 29. Right? And I was like, oh, damn, how did I get to Philly? What am I doing? I gotta figure this out,

David Hernandez: 10:45

what was your drug of choice?

The Card Library: 10:47

so I, was prescribed an Adderall prescription when I was very young and that really kicked it off for me. Right. And that led to cocaine. And, fortunately for myself, it never got much harder than that for me. Right. I smoked weed. I drank. I took Adderall. I used cocaine. Right.

David Hernandez: 11:02

You liked your uppers.

The Card Library: 11:03

Like, yeah, I did like my uppers and my five hour energies and all that stuff. Right. and for a long time before I did recovery I was like, oh, everyone in the world smokes weed and drinks beer, right? I'll be fine. And, and that's the nature of addiction. It's it will lie in wait. and wait and before you know it, one day my friend had A little bit of my drug of choice and I was like, hey, let me get some of that And it was off to the races right and it was at that point. I realized I was like, oh, okay. This is not something I can out think because this is a problem that resides in my mind, right? So I can't out think this problem. so That combined with my wife turning to me and she was like, you know I can't remember the last time you weren't high and I was like, oh god, that's terrible that's the worst thing i've ever

David Hernandez: 11:45

Yeah, that must have been a bad feeling.

The Card Library: 11:47

yeah,

David Hernandez: 11:48

Did y'all get together when you were using drugs?

The Card Library: 11:50

Yeah, we did. And it was in that period where I was like, I thought I had it under control. Right. And I was just going out and drinking and smoking. And it wasn't until I got, because my wife doesn't, she's also not an addict. Right. And she also isn't a big partier and she's not a big drinker and she doesn't smoke weed right at all. She doesn't do any of that. So it wasn't until I was with someone who is, quote unquote normal where I was like, damn, when I go out, I drink, I don't just like have a drink. I drink

David Hernandez: 12:18

how much are we talking though? Give us some insight.

The Card Library: 12:21

it's funny. It's I mean like so you go to the bar and you know it's hard to tell how many but like, when your personal bar tabs 70 bucks on a thursday night it's like come on man. What do we and you didn't eat anything? and it's funny. I was talking to a friend the other day of now that I you know You go out I would go out and have like six seven beers, right? and how crazy would it be if you and I went Out to dinner and I had six or seven Diet Cokes. What? Too many Diet Cokes. Like no one drinks that much Diet Coke, But like for some reason, beers felt like that was just what you did. Or that's what I did, and that was like pretty sustained, right? For a long time when I was in college, like I was like, this is normal. This is what people do. And, I think unfortunately, It's more, well, it's not normal, but like, especially with alcohol, it is much more common. It's much more widely accepted to get like fucking smashed. but like, then you like, you know, I was watching football the other day and like every third commercials for Budweiser and this and that and Coors Light and it's like really such a part of the culture. that not until I removed myself from that aspect of it, did I even realize how prevalent it is in normal life and people who aren't addicts, right. But can still go out and on the week, like, Work hard, play hard. it's such a normalized thing, at least with alcohol, right? And now we're getting there with weed, which you know, and I also don't pass judgment on this, right? Just because I can't successfully do this doesn't mean people can, right? Like people, just because I'm not someone who can have a glass of wine with dinner or smoke a joint on the weekend doesn't mean that the way it needs to be for everybody, right? Because that's not how it works, right? There are people out there that, get a lot of joy from this, and are still able to have meaningful, productive, sustainable, manageable lives, right? I'm just not one of those people.

David Hernandez: 14:03

You know, what you said reminds me of people who go through maybe some traumatic experience or traumatic part of their life I've noticed, especially for my life, sometimes that trauma becomes a new normal to where, you know, on the outside, when you see somebody who's maybe normally functioning or they see it and it's like, dude, that's not normal. but for us, when we're on the inside looking out, it's perfectly everyday. Like for you, for alcohol, it's like, oh yeah, have a drink, go into a bar multiple times a week, having, you know, eight glasses of beer seems normal. Right.

The Card Library: 14:33

It's funny. But even your reaction to me saying I have 67 beers like you said, Oh, geez, like even now I'm like, yeah, like, why else would I even be at the bar unless I'm not drinking nine beers? Like, there's no other reason to go there, right? there's constant reminders that the way I think about this stuff, right? And the way I interact with it. wasn't normal, even though, like, I couldn't identify any other way to live life. when I got clean, I was so concerned. Like, I was like, are my friends going to even be my friends anymore? Are, how, who am I going to be if I'm not partying?

David Hernandez: 15:05

Is it that fear that you're not going to be the same person and you're scared of who you would be without having the alcohol or the drugs in your system?

The Card Library: 15:12

Well, sure, and like, that's a real thing, right? Like, can I go out and socialize? without Adderall, Can I be productive at hard work?

David Hernandez: 15:19

And that's a, that's a legitimate concern for you because we're talking 10 years, it sounds like, of your

The Card Library: 15:23

yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. and like 10 very foundational years, right? Like my first job, right. My first internship, my first rent payment, my first real relationship. I mean, even my relationship that ended in marriage started when I was an active addiction. Right. So like a lot of really important things took place while I was using. I've been fortunate enough to put some clean time together and it's still the same feeling now that I'm clean and I've started building a new life and it's building even faster. There's so much built on the foundation of my recovery that like, I can't afford to not take it seriously because My line of work has changed and I have people who rely on me now. My wife is able to rely on me in ways that she wasn't able to before, right? Like I'm in school, I have a job, right? I have a mortgage, like all of these things have come since I've got clean. And so in like the inverse, right? Like now I have all of this stuff, That I have a lot to lose now, which used to freak me out, but now it's a really, really good motivator when I don't want to go to a meeting or you know I don't want to do the work that my recovery has shown to me works, right? It's a really good motivator to like look at what you've got By just taking it one day at a time and listening to other people and doing things that bring you real joy, right? Like, there's a lot of proof in the pudding in my life right now and, that's something I try and remain super aware of.

David Hernandez: 16:46

Before you got clean, were there points where you tried to get clean or you had motivations to want to get clean? Or were you just more indulging in that lifestyle without a second thought?

The Card Library: 16:56

it's not a yes or no. Right. Because there were times when I was like, all right, this is a little out of hand. Like there were times when I knew that I shouldn't be taking uppers like when you're awake for two days, you do some weird things and I would write myself notes in the night and be like, this is not working for me, you know, read this when you're coming down, right? Like you don't want to do this even when you're high, right? Like I said, like there's nothing, there's no way to out think it certainly not alone, at least, okay, let me speak for myself, there was no way that I could out think it, there was no way that I could outmaneuver it. Right. one of the things, when you're living in active addiction is when you're not high, all you think about is getting high, right? So I wasn't thinking about what I was writing to myself, right? I wasn't thinking about what I thought, right? I was thinking like, okay, I can't think clearly. I'll be able to think more clearly about this. Once I can get 1 in, right? So there was like a three year stretch, like I mentioned, right, where I didn't use uppers, right? and I was like, I did it. We're good. I'm normal, right? I can party like everyone else, right? and like I said, it's that insidious nature, and addiction lies in weight. And that's the scary thing. Like, you might make it three years. You might make it five years. You might make it ten years. But all it takes is one day. One bad decision. and you're back. and that's a really dangerous thing with, certain hard drugs. Right? so like, like I live in Philadelphia and there's like a huge opioid epidemic. Well, not just in Philly, but like, Philly is particularly plagued. it's something you see a lot, right? Is people will go to treatment, they'll come back, they'll use once and That's a wrap, Because they go back to using the same amount that they've always used and if you are able to put it down for a month, you need to be very careful. and that's the scary thing, right? It can be a month, it can be a day, it can be three hours, it can be ten years, right? more often than not, if left to your own devices, your addiction is there and it's waiting and it's just waiting for you to... get let go from your job or break up with your girlfriend or, lose someone you care about. And it shows up when you're at your weakest and really regains control and with certain drugs, that is incredibly dangerous. It's an incredibly dangerous balancing act.

David Hernandez: 19:04

You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. So how was Pokemon able to help you on this road to recovery? Was it the catalyst that kind of led you to be clean? Or was it something that kind of helped you stay clean?

The Card Library: 20:25

So it's something that helped me stay clean. Right. So, like I was saying, right, I was like, okay, now what? Right. I'm not doing drugs. I have all this free time. What do I do? Right. What do I do with my time? and I'm so grateful that like, I didn't think hard about it. Just fit into my life at the time and you know, I think like a lot of people who are my age who still play Pokemon, right? It's a nostalgia thing. Like, it makes me feel safe. It makes me feel happy. it's a little bit of escapism, right? You know, if if I'm waiting in line at the grocery store and it's loud and it's crowded, but I'm playing Pokemon Go, like, that's not that bad, right? Like, um, and so it's been a really good thing, to help me relax. Right? Like, when I got clean, right, I felt weird going out into public. I felt weird making new friends. I felt weird. I felt weird. Right? but here's this game that like, you can build a community around. You can have a reason to go to the park and find people who are plugged into their phones out of their backpack and be like, Hey, like, you want to be friends, you want to trade, how many shinies have you caught? Right? Like it was a good excuse to get out into the world, which I desperately needed.

David Hernandez: 21:25

So Pokemon Go allowed you to be able to establish a new connection, away from your past life, into a current one, to where it's around Pokemon if you grew up with Pokemon Red, and even the new ones that come out. you play Pokemon Go with other people, I assume?

The Card Library: 21:38

Yeah. So, it definitely like waxes and wanes. Right. So right now I'm so busy right now. I've got like 14 hour days, like six days a week right now. So right now it's really hard to meet up with the local community. I do miss remote raid passes. I'm one of those people. Over my time in Philly, yeah, like, I was on the discord, we would meet up every Wednesday for raid day and walk up and down, uh, people who I had, I, I had never met in my life before, right. And before, you're getting rides with them. If someone says, Hey, there's a perfect IV Pokemon at the or whatever, right. Like we're jumping in each other's cars, strangers, going to Catch this. It was so fun. and I'm looking forward to having a little bit more of a, once I'm out of my master's program and I'm not in school and I don't have an internship and I don't have a job and I have like one thing to take care of professionally. Right. I'm looking forward to digging back into that discord community. That's still pretty active, I think.

David Hernandez: 22:28

I think it shows a lot of growth, because you talk about a lot of stress that's on your, plate right now. You've got the school, you've got your wife, you've got work, you've got... Homework but the fact that you know, here you are we're talking five years sober and You have all this stress all this stuff on your plate, but you're able to manage it in your own way Whether it's with Pokemon go or other ways, I think shows a lot of how much you've changed in my opinion

The Card Library: 22:50

Oh, I appreciate that. Right. And like that, all these stressors are still stressors. and. I don't have the luxury of like, oh, today was a long day. I'm gonna go grab a beer. Right? I have to come home and I have to feel stressed. And at times like this, I need to remind myself that this was my goal, This was my goal when I got clean, to have work that's worth doing, to care about it, to feel like I'm doing a good job, and this was my goal. I did this on purpose, right? This was my goal so I try and stay in that gratitude around How busy I am and how hectic my life is right because I did this on purpose.

David Hernandez: 23:25

say you could talk to your 17 year old self, what would you tell him?

The Card Library: 23:29

I would tell him to Not worry as much About what other people were doing, what other people were thinking, what other people were saying, I would encourage 17 year old me to be more at peace with who he was, and that everything is going to be okay, I think that's what I would tell myself. Everything's going to be okay cause I needed to hear that at some point.

David Hernandez: 23:50

Now you've talked about how you've dived into collecting the Pokemon cards. What is it about like collecting them? Are you trying to collect like the whole collection, like a set that comes out or do you like to collect your favorites?

The Card Library: 24:01

I bounce around from how I want to collect and really it depends on what I open. I love to open cards, right? I love to buy booster boxes, I've done Yu Gi Oh cards. I've done magic, the gathering cards, but I always really settle on Pokemon cards and, Again, it's a nostalgia thing. I was there when base set came out. I remember having base set cards, those base set booster packs are like 300 today. I remember going to buy them for 2. 95 at the car store, like 2 and 95 cents. Right. Like, goes back to Pokemon go, right? I've loved collecting. I think the cards are beautiful. Like I just like to open them, see what I get, put them in my nice binder, share them on Instagram, right? Like, I think they're gorgeous, at one point I, had a whole living Pokédex of cards, right? I had one of every Pokémon card. I've since taken those binders apart and reorganized my cards, but like, whatever I feel like doing with them at the time is right for me.

David Hernandez: 24:52

I have currently a Pokedex of cards. I tried to do my favorite ones of each Pokemon, but there's so many good arts nowadays, it's hard for me to choose one. Like, I almost want to just scrap, like, do what you did and just scrap it and just start collecting as many as I could because there's just so many cool designs for each Pokemon that it's hard to pick one.

The Card Library: 25:09

Yeah. And then every now and then you'll encounter a card that you realize hasn't been printed like Tyrant is a perfect example. There's like six Tyrant cards. None of them are like full arts or anything like that. First of all, I, of course, I want all six of these like normal, uncommon and common Tyrant cards cause the art on them is gorgeous. But it's funny when you're paying attention to like the cards that aren't Charizard and Mewtwo and, the heavy hitters in the card world, right? Like there's so many details and so many good cards out there. you'd spend a long time trying to get the perfect card for the perfect slot in your Pokédex of cards for sure.

David Hernandez: 25:42

For sure. So, I believe the 151 just came out, right? if you could choose five cards out of that 151 set, which five would you pick?

The Card Library: 25:50

Oh, that's a great question. So I pulled the special illustration, rare Blastoise. that was awesome. So I'm going to pick that because I pulled it like that card is sweet. the full art EX Venusaur. So not the rarest Venusaur you can get, but the full art EX Venusaur is so clean, just so appealing to look at I think that's my favorite card of the set It's far from the rarest card, but I think that card is awesome I also really love the Mew promo that comes in the It's like the premium collection box, it's like the big box. Comes with two promos the Mew promo and that is a gorgeous card. And then I really like The special illustration art Squirtle. I think that's one of the better looking cards in the set for sure. And then I'm going to chalk the fifth one up to a rotating favorite and on any given day I could want a different one to fill that spot. I guess Charizard is the easy answer. It is a beautiful card, but, yeah, I feel like that's too easy of an answer.

David Hernandez: 26:49

Hey, it's your top five. You can pick

The Card Library: 26:50

it

David Hernandez: 26:50

the heck you want. Anyway, you know, I appreciate you coming on the show. I appreciate you sharing your story. if someone was listening to this podcast, And they were maybe going through the same thing you were going through, trying to overcome addiction, What advice would you give them?

The Card Library: 27:05

My advice would be do not do it alone. go ask for help, whether it's at a 12 step fellowship or, another Place that you feel comfortable, right? Whether it's a place of worship or, you know, if you're in school, right? If there's a counselor at school, right? Go ask for help. there's no way in hell. I could have done this alone. I'm still not doing it alone. I have a very, very close group of friends in recovery with me who are A huge part of my life. there are resources and people out there willing to help and as I said, right, it's very hard to out think a problem that resides in your mind. be open, be willing, and take advice if given to you by someone who you trust. that is the foundation of getting clean. and then, it was Pokemon for me. So if, you're listening to the podcast, it could be Pokemon for you, right? But find something that you love, find something that you love to do and love to talk about and love to immerse yourself in, right? So find something good, find something productive, the gym, riding a bike, Pokemon cards, Pokemon Go, right, anything that you care about, sink yourself into that, and don't do it alone. You know, my wife couldn't make me stop using drugs. My brother couldn't make me stop using drugs, right? Me losing jobs couldn't make me stop using drugs. if you're a friend of someone who's struggling with active addiction, give yourself Some grace, You can't fix the problem that your friend is experiencing. What you can do is support them, be there for them, if it's safe for you to be there for them, and just know that it's not a problem that you can fix. There's only 1 person that can fix the problem that someone living in active addiction has and that's that person.

David Hernandez: 28:48

And I think that's the hardest thing for people because, especially for me as a case worker, we put our emotions into trying to fix somebody or trying to help somebody. And the hard part that I had to accept as a caseworker is that I can't solve another person's problems. No matter how much I try to care, no matter how much I try to set them up, they have to want it themselves. especially as a family dynamic, it's hard to put that boundary up. But you have to take care of yourself first, right? Because it's easy to make their problem your own problem, and you you shouldn't do that, but it's so easy to do because you try to do it because it comes from a loving source.

The Card Library: 29:24

Yeah, and it's scary how quickly someone trying to help a person can turn into enabling, Can turn into destructive things that don't help anybody, right? and just going back to the comment you mentioned about the work that you do, right? You can't want it more than the person you're working with or dealing with or helping, right? You can't want someone to get clean more than they want to get clean. It's not possible. Right? Nothing will change, It has to come from them. Five years ago I didn't really want to make a change, I wouldn't have, And that was my experience up until then. So it really has to come from you and start with you and end with you.

David Hernandez: 30:00

Will Siegel, that is the interview. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for sharing your story. Before you do go, if people want to connect with you, if they want to see you, open some cards. Where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

The Card Library: 30:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciate it. So I have an Instagram account. It's called the card library. Like I said, I love opening cards. I love to try and build a community around Pokemon and trading cards. so head over to the card library if you have an Instagram account, and we can connect there and feel free to shoot me a message on there. If you have any questions about anything I talked about today.

David Hernandez: 30:32

Cool beans. and I'll make sure to include some resources and the links for the card library in the description of this episode. Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns. If you want to support the show, consider becoming a patron by either clicking the link in the description or going to patreon.com/asthepokeballturns. Now here's a sneak peek for the next episode of As the Pokeball Turns.