Are You Here To Be An Entrepreneur? 25Who do you think you are?
I believe that my higher purpose in life is to make a positive difference
in the lives of others.
What event or series of events led to your discovery?
In the beginning I didn’t really understand that my life had a higher pur-
pose. I think I was like a lot of people. I was struggling to make my way
through life, and I lived life for Dave Anderson. I wanted to know how I
could get more, how I could satisfy myself. I spent most of my earlier
years in that pursuit. I would work hard and I’d get so far, then I’d hit a
brick wall and I’d crash and burn. Like most Type A personalities, I’d
pick myself up again, get back in the game, work hard, bust my butt, and
then hit a brick wall and crash and burn all over again.
I think when someone is seeking self-gratification it’s easy to get
messed up in substance abuse and drinking. At least it was for me. There
are many different ways that people use to feel happy. Maybe they’re
looking for that magical moment (the high you experience the first time
you use). When you experience that first high, you really feel like you’ve
found something. But then like all addictive substances, the next time
you go after it, it doesn’t quite get you so high. So you drink a little bit
more, or you use a little bit more drugs, and you’re in that constant search
for that gratification, that incredible high, that elusive magical moment,
unachievable after the first time experience.
When I reached this point, I started to spiral downward. In that
moment of personal failure, I did like a lot of people do; I blamed the
economy and I blamed others. I always had an excuse for why I just
couldn’t get over the hump or why I could never attain my dreams. I was
doing it to myself, but I would blame everyone and everything else in-
stead of taking responsibility for my own actions. I didn’t understand
that it wasn’t just about Dave Anderson; there were others around me
who suffered as a result of my behavior.
Then my wife put me into treatment. For the first couple of weeks
I sat around saying, “I can’t believe my wife would do something like
this to me.” Today I’ve learned that recovery is a gift. It’s the gift of
healing. When I had been in recovery for about two weeks, contemplat-
ing where I had been, I really started to understand that I was my own
worst enemy! I found myself on my knees at the side of my bed praying
to God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus...I mean I was praying to everybody, and I