Today’s guest joining us on the Join Up Dots free podcast interview has a harrowing story, that shows how, through one terrible incident, a person’s life can spiral out of control, until hitting rock bottom and fighting their way back. When our guest today was just fourteen, she was raped, she lost her virginity and her life changed forever. Unable to make sense of what had happened to her, still a very young girl, Lorraine Reguly turned to drugs, quit school four times, and became very promiscuous. At age 16, she fell pregnant with a child that she was unable to keep, and fell deeper from the path that could have shown itself at anytime. After the abortion, she got involved with prostitution, and, at the age of 18, gave birth to her son. Now at that time, she made a decision to start fighting back and to make a difference in her and her own son’s life. She went back to school, graduated via a program for single moms, received scholarships and awards, until, after attending university for 5 years, she became a high school math and English teacher, which she worked at for 3.5 years, teaching in a small town, until and we will discuss this on the show, she made what seems a bizarre decision and quit to move back to her hometown, where she returned to prostitution and drugs because the money was better. Her self-esteem was in tatters. Suicidal thoughts running through her days, and an accident where she nearly lost her right leg. If that sounds too depressing to consider, she was just about to enter into the worst time of her life during this period. Her son moved out when he turned 19 and didn’t speak to her for three years. She ended up smoking crack for ten months during this time and then it happened… She nearly died when her appendix burst, and realized she didn’t want to die without saying “good-bye” to her son. As she says, “I had already started to turn my life around about two years before this event occurred, and so when I finally re-connected with my son, my life always back on track. Re-uniting with Julian changed my life in a very positive way. I decided to pursue a writing career. I now own a business, Wording Well, and am an author. I live a clean life, and spend a lot of it helping others. My books are in my local library, and my business is thriving. I’m living proof that a person can hit rock bottom and rise to the top despite all odds against them. My son is proud of me again, too. :)” So let’s take her on the journey of her life again, as we show everyone of you, that life is a series of choices good and bad, and we can all improve our lives by simply deciding to do so. Well let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs in todays Free podcast, with the one and only Lorraine Reguly.