In this weeks Faces of Recovery, Ashley Robertson talks about her struggle with addiction.

Robertson is 30 years old and a Bell County native. She said she first started experimenting with drugs at the age of 15.

“At the time, all my friends were doing it. I saw how happy they were and how everything else seemed to disappear when they used,” said Robertson. “I wanted that feeling of not having to cope with life and that seemed quick and easy. I was addicted to meth, suboxone and Xanax.”

Robertson described her life of addiction as a “miserable routine.” She would wake up sick if she didn’t have her drugs. She explained her day to day as staying on the phone until she was able to score, or she would go out and lie and steal things to pawn to get money to pay for her drugs.

“I would fight with anyone in my path because addiction made me selfish. Everyday if I didn’t get my way with people I would do everything in my power to get what I needed for that day — just to wake up and do it all over again,” she said.

When asked about her rock bottom, Robertson described a scenario where she was with two addicts in recovery. She noted how happy they seemed and thought they were faking it to convince her to get sober.

“Later that night my child walks in on me and I instantly yelled at her. She ran off crying. I had a mirror in front of me and I looked at myself. All I saw staring back was an empty, dark, broken carcass. Nothing more and nothing less. That’s when I broke and asked for help,” said Robertson.

Robertson then sought help. She explained that recovery was a rough road at first and difficult for her to cope with.

“But as time went on, I saw that in order for me to recover I needed to put my all into it like I did with my addiction. Having a sponsor doing step work and attending meetings and talking with other addicts like me helped make this whole process easy and well worth it,” she said.

Now. Robertson is grateful for her second chance at life.

“That I can have a relationship with my children and with those close to me and they actually love me and want me around — it’s been the best 15 months of my life living clean, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in this world.”