 Hello everyone. Welcome to another video. This video feels really surreal. I've got an announcement to make to everyone. Something that I'm really proud to say and this is going to 100% be an emotional video for me and anyone out there that can empathize with a hard journey like staying sober. I've been sober now for six years. What an achievement for me. I mean if you saw me before you wouldn't have recognized me. Honestly I was constantly drinking alcohol. I was very severely addicted to amphetamines and all other substances. And I was just a different person altogether. What I thought I would do for this year's sober video is I thought I'd read through some of my old Facebook posts. But before we get into that I just want to give people another run through of my life. Around 14 years old I started to hang out with street level gangs and it graduated into something more serious and then it turned into being around well-known organized crime gangs and then I was a drug dealer and an addict and I was quite violent and everything sort of gets out of control and it landed me in prison. I was first thrown into solitary confinement under Suicide Watch, spent five days in there, released on house arrest, awaiting a sentencing for the firearm I was carrying. In that world obviously you need to defend yourself if you get in some danger and the way I did that was you know I'd carry weapons, sometimes a hammer, a knife or a firearm. The environment begins to shape you and that's the thing like you can be doing things out of character for you but the environment starts to mould you into the individual that you become. And you know at times I became a monster. I became a monster. I scared my family. I've you know been not the best friend and I've heard a lot of people in my past and something I regret and I'm not proud of. I also heard a lot of animals. I was consuming animal products three times a day and you know I've killed animals in the past, another thing I really regret. So you know when I'm teaching people about animal ethics I'm coming from a place of being on the other side of the fence so I'm not trying to say that I'm morally superior to anyone. I've just learned something. I've changed my ways. I've become enlightened to the harm I was causing and now I'm trying to live in amends, make amends for the mistakes of my past and you know try to defend the innocent, defend animals who can't defend themselves. So addiction is really serious and look it can stem from childhood things, it can stem from families you know being split apart and alcoholism in the family and not being raised in the right environment, not trying to blame anyone for the reason I become an addict, the reason I become a violent gang member, not trying to, I made my own decisions but sometimes the odds are against you and it's sort of the things that you fall into you don't really have as much control over as you think you do. I'm a very lucky person. I'm very lucky and I'm very grateful because some of my friends aren't so lucky. Some of my friends are doing you know life in prison or they're still addicted to drugs and you know I feel very grateful for having this second chance and not wasting it, not wasting this opportunity that I have to influence people in the world to help animals and to dedicate my life to a purpose and that's one of the things that will keep you sober is having a purpose every single day and I'm not saying it's going to be easy the first year for me was the one of the most hardest years of my life. I was riddled with anxiety and regret and shame and I didn't have an alcohol or drugs to use as a crutch, I didn't have my friends to back me up, I didn't have a gun to help me with my paranoia and insecurity, I was on my own. Staying sober though through that rocky part of my life was the best decision I ever made. Not to say that I'm completely free from all of the things that I've done in my past and all of the psychological damage that was done from being in such a crazy deceptive violent world for so long but it's a constant journey to getting myself better. Recently for the last I'd say eight months I've been doing therapy for PTSD and some other you know just things that I thought I could work through myself but I've had I've had help from a therapist and there's no shame in getting help for if you've been in such a very such a hectic environment for many years there's no shame in trying to work through some of those deep traumas that have been covered up. What I want to do is go through some of my Facebook posts you know obviously like my Facebook posts began to change when I first got on house arrest there was like I was drinking I was still like an aggressive you know you know violent person and drinking alcohol when I was saying ridiculous things on my platform. Luckily I didn't have that bigger platform but it was just an outlet that I was using. Here's one I want to point out here 16th of October 2012 if you want something you've never had you've got to do something you've never done being sober was something I had never done. So let that be a quote to sink in if you really do want to change your life if you have a family member who's going down the wrong track if you keep repeating the same actions you're going to get the same outcome so if you want something you've never had you've got to do something you've never done. I was an awakened individual in many respects I was just you know I was trying to be more conscious but I was clouded by drugs and alcohol in gangs ruled by my ego and you know the odds were against me. Here's another interesting one December 19th 2012 people that are against cruelty to animals and eat caged eggs are hypocrites 2012 way before I was vegan I was eating all other animal products I had glimpse of awareness there okay if only I'd known that all animal products are inherently cruel maybe I would have changed sooner but you can see there was there was some glimpse of like ethics coming through there I'm just going to tell you throughout my house arrest I was partying I had you know different people around all the time I was constantly filling the hole in my heart with alcohol and drugs and substances I you know I was having fights in my shed I'd people come over I'd knives on me I'd you know use them in self-defense at the front of my house before yeah I've used knives on people I've used hammers on people I've you know I've committed acts of violence um have I committed an act of violence for the last six years no I haven't um no I haven't and I plan on keeping it that way I plan on always you know unless I really had to do something in self-defense maintaining a nonviolent lifestyle um I really think that that's important to you know it's important to be consistent if you want to be nonviolent towards animals and I think you should extend that to human beings and being a vegan has really helped me extend my compassion to human beings that's why I think you know looking in in these areas of your life where you're committing the most cruelty and violence um like your diet really helps you become awakened to some of the ways that you're treating other humans that might not be um that might not be acceptable so let's just go I want to show you this one here um this was before just before I went to prison so I went to prison May 13th 2013 it's May 13th 2019 so it's funny how so many people are against animal cruelty which don't get me wrong so am I it's a great cause but I'm not that naive to think that I believe in it that strongly otherwise I wouldn't be chowing down on a burnt piece of dead flesh from a mistreated drugged up genetically modified pigs carcass let's be honest with ourselves here until you're a vegetarian or a vegan you're not an animal rights activist you're just a hypocrite either that or you're just plain ignorant no offence everyone just had a big scotch fillet steak and felt guilty so I'm taking it out on news how's that this was made second so I'd already done a juice fast I'd learned about the power of fruits and vegetables I've been following raw food educated dad mcdonald so I'd known about sort of karma I'd had seeds planted it was starting to come out and I was starting to voice this and you gotta remember like the people that were following me on my facebook you know we're talking like yeah general friends and family we're talking about other gang members we're talking about other people involved in you know the underworld and I was voicing my stuff pretty you know I was I was really um letting people know how I felt about this so I went to prison on May 13th I've been partying right up to my prison date I had a massive fight with my family on the weekend before I got locked up I was really lashing out I'd assaulted my some of my family members I was just a mess you know like I'd like a three week bender leading up to my court dates because my court dates were postponed but on May 13th boom I got my sentence handed down to me and that was it got locked up you know got stripped down got thrown in prison spent six months or five or six months in prison becoming sober realising that the gang world wasn't for me and realising wow what have I been doing for all this time and drug use and who am I at having a crisis of identity and you know when I was released I was released on the 10th of the 10th 2013 so 10 10 10th of October upon my release here we go this is my first post as I got out where is it back from my holiday fuck it feels good to be out now to go through my 100 notifications that was the day I got out of jail this is a photo of me and my brother the day I got out of jail had a grown up beard and I'd been training religiously in prison I'd lost a lot of weight I had a six pack nearly when I got out of jail it was great I was eating a lot of raw fruits and vegetables in prison but I was also eating animal protein I thought I needed animal protein to build muscle obviously now I know you do not when I was released out of prison um I was put on house arrest again for two months here we go 24th of December 2013 looks like it's another Christmas and New Year's on Home D which is house arrest third in a row oh well I'm still happy and grateful it could be worse I could be a turkey freezing in a dark cage in my own feces waiting to be knocked off and fed to one of you bastards ha ha ha Merry Christmas to everyone have a safe and cheerful festive season love you all don't get too pissed um this is that I'd all meet eaters following me I don't think I had one vegan following me I don't think at all but this is how I used to talk when I got out of prison and this was before I went vegan still then freedom parole granted for 2nd of January what a relief so happy time to spread my wings again that was an interesting two and a half years of my life I'm glad to see the end of it and embrace the beginning of a new chapter I'll remain drug and alcohol free of course and focus on work training and healthy living thanks to my family and friends that stuck by me everyone that came around and spent time with me I had some of the best times of my life on home D which is house arrest it was you guys who helped me get through it without breaching the only regret I have is putting the people I care about through all this bullshit it's all a lesson I suppose bring on 2014 shit just got real you know I was really determined to change my life around but you know all while all this was happening um I had friends who were like in the hospital that had been getting shot I had my friends who had been you know seriously injured in gang fights there was a lot of wars going on and there was victims on both sides of these fights and it was really crazy scary time and you know there was really serious things going on in prison and it's just a you know it's just a big wake up call for everyone and it's like you know what do you do do you do you continue going down this track um end up in prison or seriously injured in hospital with or with a serious addiction like I had um or do you turn it all around and these are things that I could only analyze with a sober mind and this is why sobriety is so important to me and it's like it's the crux of maintaining this lifestyle I do this this purpose that I have I've got awareness now I can see things clearer November the first 2013 became a fruitarian a raw vegan when I first went vegan I went raw vegan because I was you know educated by raw food uh guy and that was the day I became a vegan basically and then from that point onwards I educated myself on veganism I found Gary Rofsky and animal rights and you know I was following freely and durian rider and going you know which was you know all of the finding different communities online really helped me stay sober um here's one wow the cops just love rocking up for a raid six men strong with bulletproof vests on I said have a look around there's no guns here just an abnormally large stash of bananas are the perks of having a prohibition order so like look I was still getting raided after I've become vegan and sober the police after a while knew that I wasn't a danger I wasn't gonna dabble back in in with our gangs and drugs when I pulled myself out of gangs and drugs and stuff I pulled myself out of everything I stopped associating I stopped um I just went on my own two feet and that's like if you want to ever pull yourself out of something that serious you gotta you gotta just go off on your own mate and it's it's you have a you have to have a revolution of self and you know you only get one life you don't want to spend it sitting in the prison so you don't want to spend it on drugs and doing bad things you want to you know you want to make sure you leave a positive mark on the earth and I feel like in the six years that I've been sober I really have made a massive impact in the lives of so many people and now I get messages every day from people saying joey you know you've changed my life you know you you don't understand you've changed the whole course of my life like you're giving me purpose you've woken me up you've you've helped my family you've you know you've inspired me to be an activist you've inspired me to help create change on earth and it means so much to me knowing that I come from the gutter I come from you know addiction and violence and gangs to now be inspiring people to make compassionate choices and changing their life around too and you know I want to continue to do that I want to continue to help people and here's a post from me when I first left gangs and I hope no one is dirty or upset with me it's very difficult decision and I hope you'll understand and someone left this comment joey I've no idea what's going on as I've always told you you can't please everyone you just got to make the best decision for yourself because after all you're the one he has to live with it and that's so true you've got to sometimes make decisions for yourself and and commit to those decisions and never look back you know never look back and here's another post I made I'd rather walk alone than with the crowd going the wrong direction and that's a really powerful post here's another post um let's be honest with ourselves here you're not really an animal lover if you have a piece of a dead's cow's arse cheek next to your mashed potatoes on your ditto plate stop kidding yourself haha wow so it was very open about that here we go documented 20th of October it's been nearly six months without getting drunk that's a new personal best I'm going to try for one year sober just for something different on the path to health then um here's my my one year sober today I'm 12 months sober six months be vegan been abusing drugs and alcohol for over 10 years so this is a big deal for me and as you know I was probably the loosest party animal out of anyone it feels good to be out of that place now I'm focused on healthy lifestyle and training so anyone out there who wants to get clean and thinks they can't do it well I'm living proof that anything's possible it's just a choice in the moment anyway I hope this inspires you joey's daily wisdom so look most of you know a little bit about my past and where I come from it's been a journey I'm not going to say staying sober for six years has been easy there's been times where I've wanted to drink alcohol there's been times when I just wanted to let loose and party but I think when you have something to wake up for every day a purpose in your life and you've you really got to make that decision you really got to ask yourself has the actions you've been taking in your life up to this point led you to the point where you want to be at and for me the first 26 of years of my life was a lesson you know it led me up to a point where I just come to a crossroads and I'd had enough and you know God bless my father my father who passed away who I feel like has been with me in spirit through so much and you know he lived to see me turn my life around and he would have passed away happy that I pulled myself out of the hole that I was in you know I've overcome suicide I've overcome some real hard times and I should have died so many times I've had near-death experiences I've been run over and been held hostage at gunpoint and you know I've been in the the crossfire of some very serious dangerous things and I haven't been a perfect human being and I haven't been a good human being for a lot of my life but I can happily say now without any shame or regrets that I'm striving to be the best person that I can and you know I'm still not a perfect person but I think we all can learn from each other and we all we've all got things about ourselves that we want to change and I just don't want all that that hardship I went through to be for nothing you know and I don't want my life to be for nothing I want to leave a positive mark on earth and that's always been my motivation to start my youtube channel and to get out there I just wanted to to change someone's life for the better because I've done so much bad in my past and I always talk about the fire that I have inside of my heart if anyone else has that fire inside your heart don't ever waste your opportunity to spread that that's your purpose and it's calling out to you don't waste your life down that rabbit hole of drugs and alcohol and ego and gangs and violence there is a better way if I can pull myself out of the hole that I was in anyone can I want to say thank you to my mom and my family for sticking by me for all of that anyone that I've hurt in the past you know I'm living in amends for that I'm sorry for anything that I've done and every single day I strive to do better I will be an animal defender until I die I really do think this is the cause that I was put on earth to fight animals can't defend themselves and they need every single one of us doing our part I know this is probably going to be a long video I don't care I just got a lot of things I want to say like today feels like so surreal six years you know could have wasted my life down the bottom of that bottle and you know in that bag of amphetamines and I could be sitting in a cell right now just wondering what I did wondering why I threw it all away but I'm not I've got this opportunity and I'm eternally grateful for that and I will not waste it I will capitalise on this opportunity I'll make sure that we make some serious change on earth before I die and I hope you all feel the same thank you so much to all my supporters to all of my people that to all those people that follow me even though anyone he hates my guts you know you don't know what someone's been through you don't know someone's story you don't know me you don't know what's going through my mind what my real intentions are my intentions are pure they're positive I really do want to help and yeah just I'm not going to stop I'm not going to stop that's a nice book brother