Hello, friends.

Hello, my name is Wadeton. I'm a 24 year old male. I have been familiar with lucid dreaming for the majority of my life, being introduced by my middle school friend. During my teen years I was always very intrigued by it, but I never dedicated myself enough to be able to do it with any consistency. I have had the occasional LD by chance over the past 15 or so years, and even a couple successful WILDS. Sadly, by the time I turned 20 I was heavily involved with drug abuse and sort of forgot about LDing completely. Having come to the realization that I can't continue to live this life anymore, I am on a journey to free myself from it. Unfortunately, after abusing dissociatives in particular, life just doesn't feel the same anymore. I feel as though life in general has lost its magic and feels cold and distant. But, I have hopes that with LDing I might be able to find that part of me that was lost. I know that LDing can be a very powerful tool, and I'm convinced that I will be able to find the answers that I'm looking for. I hope that this doesn't sound like a sob story, as it's not meant to be. But, I would like to welcome you all along on my journey to once again find myself.

Hey Wadeton TL!

Welcome to the forum! Glad you also came to say hello on the chat. There are always a bunch of friendly people there.

I'm sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time. I can't say I know anything about it. If I was to say anything at all, then it would be how I got through a really rough period in my life. It is not the same as yours, hell it's probably not even close, but I would like to say this: It might take a while, but things will get better. This sounds cliche, but as long as you keep working on it, it is very true!

I know I personally was in a very bad spot a couple years ago and I could never see myself be a normal part of society. Though by taking baby steps, somewhere along the line I made it happen somehow. Now I have a good future ahead of me. Sure, it's still not perfect and theres still so much that isn't going right. And sure, this is not like your situation. But I guess what I just want to say is: don't lose hope. Be honest with yourself and things will get better :)

If there is ever anything you'd like to ask, don't hesitate to aks or PM or come to chat. There's always people over here that love to help others :)

Thank you so much for the kind words MrPriority, I really appreciate the encouragement! It hasn't been too long since I stopped using the more mind altering stuff, and from what I've gathered it may take months to get back to normal. But, I will get through this, one step at a time. Again, thank you so much for the encouragement. I'll be sure to stop by chat again and get to know everyone! :)

Welcome to the forum WadetonTL.

Hey and welcome :)
dont want to tell you what to do or dont. i think that lucid dreaming indeed is powerfull and one can do a lot with it. plus it is a hobby and a lifestyle. it got important for me and because of that i smoke way less weed for example because i have choice a: smoke every day and yea ... no dreams... or i want to lucid dream and want to be present in the now as good as possible and work on myself to get a better and more integrated being. so i dont need to forbid myself to smoke but i have something that got more important for me. its a small difference that makes it way easier to stop with those things.
another thing: meditation... dont know if you are open for it. i find it very beneficial especially when you have a hard time... one learn knowing yourself... and in the end its very beneficial for lucid dreaming too.
hope i can link it without braking any rules... : How to Meditate | Aloha Dharma
this one is a very good small insight/tutorial for a meditationpractice i really can recommend without the whole religios or dogma charged stuff... just you and your body and thoughts and experience that arises from insight...

at least for me meditation + lucid dreaming = way less interest in drugs and bad habits. still doing them when i feel like it but way more thoughtfully and in a balanced way...

hope i could make you think about it for a sec^^

Thank you both for the welcome! RelaxAndDream, the meditation looks very interesting and I'm going to look into it more as soon as my shift is over. I also agree with you that it will be much easier to break the habits if there is something else to occupy the mind. Sure, some of them will be much harder than the others, but I know that I can do this! Thank you for the input friend. :)