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<p>When Virginia Burton, now 48, was first introduced to marijuana at age 6, it set the course for her to become a full-blown addict by age 15.</p><p>Her life involved a series of hardships, including three rounds of incarceration, twice with her mother - and a gnawing sense that her addiction would kill her.</p><p>But now, her life has completely changed and she&#39;s been sober for 8 years and 5 months. In a Facebook post, Burton shared a before and after photo showing her in the throes of addiction and now to encourage others that it&#39;s never too late to turn your life around.</p><div><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="697" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fvirginia.anne.549%2Fposts%2F5508102162596345&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="500"></iframe></div><p>The caption read:</p><blockquote> <p>&quot;How about that for motivation? I honestly thought I&#39;d die on a park bench with a needle in my arm or by gunshot to the head. I would&#39;ve never in a million years thought my life would look the way it does today.<br /> <br /> Stop selling yourself short. You don&#39;t know what tomorrow might bring so you might consider starting today.&quot;</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>The photo on the left shows her high on cocaine and heroin in 2005, which marks the arrest that led to her getting clean. The photo on the right shows her graduation photo from Washington State with a degree in political science.</p><p>As a junior, she was awarded a Truman Scholarship which recognizes future leaders. While speaking with the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/uaa/2020/04/15/virginia-burton-receives-truman-scholarship/" target="_blank"><i>University of Washington</i></a> about her award, Burton shared how she&#39;s motivated herself to keep going with her goals even when it&#39;s hard.</p><blockquote> <p>&quot;Making the decision to return to school so late in life was a challenge for me. I thought I might be too old to start my life over again and that learning might be harder than I imagined. I decided that I would tackle each challenge I faced with the same drive I tackle mountains. There is no excuse to stop moving forward. If I want to reach the summit, I must keep climbing.&quot;</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Burton&#39;s Facebook post received a lot of positive responses from people who applauded her for sharing her recovery journey, and a slice of hope for people struggling with addiction.</p><figure class="image"><div class="image-container"><img alt="" data-attribution="Facebook" data-attribution-url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3" height="605" src="//cdn.someecards.com/posts/commentone-ANcZzH.jpg" width="1000" /></div> <figcaption></figcaption> <div class="image-attribution"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3">Facebook</a></div></figure><figure class="image"><div class="image-container"><img alt="" data-attribution="Facebook" data-attribution-url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3" height="537" src="//cdn.someecards.com/posts/commenttwo-tnq007.jpg" width="1000" /></div> <figcaption></figcaption> <div class="image-attribution"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3">Facebook</a></div></figure><p> </p><figure class="image"><div class="image-container"><img alt="" data-attribution="Facebook" data-attribution-url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3" height="1046" src="//cdn.someecards.com/posts/commentthree-QAfjgU.jpg" width="1000" /></div> <figcaption></figcaption> <div class="image-attribution"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3">Facebook</a></div></figure><p> </p><figure class="image"><div class="image-container"><img alt="" data-attribution="Facebook" data-attribution-url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3" height="306" src="//cdn.someecards.com/posts/commentfour-RZ8bF1.jpg" width="1000" /></div> <figcaption></figcaption> <div class="image-attribution"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5508102095929685&amp;set=a.1673899159350017&amp;type=3">Facebook</a></div></figure><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Hopefully, Burton&#39;s post helped give someone the boost they need on their own recovery journey.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

Woman’s inspiring before-and-after photos of her addiction recovery go viral.

When Virginia Burton, now 48, was first introduced to marijuana at age 6, it set the course for her to become a full-blown addict by age 15.Her life involved a series of hardships, including three rounds of incarceration, twice with her mother - and a gnawing sense that her addiction would kill her.But now, her life has completely changed and she&#39;s been sober for 8 years and 5 months. In a Facebook post, Burton shared a before and after photo showing her in the throes of addiction and now to encourage others that it&#39;s never too late to turn your life around.The caption read: &quot;How about that for motivation? I honestly thought I&#39;d die on a park bench with a needle in my arm or by gunshot to the head. I would&#39;ve never in a million years thought my life would look the way it does today.  Stop selling yourself short. You don&#39;t know what tomorrow might bring so you might consider starting today.&quot; The photo on the left shows her high on cocaine and heroin in 2005, which marks the arrest that led to her getting clean. The photo on the right shows her graduation photo from Washington State with a degree in political science.As a junior, she was awarded a Truman Scholarship which recognizes future leaders. While speaking with the University of Washington about her award, Burton shared how she&#39;s motivated herself to keep going with her goals even when it&#39;s hard. &quot;Making the decision to return to school so late in life was a challenge for me. I thought I might be too old to start my life over again and that learning might be harder than I imagined. I decided that I would tackle each challenge I faced with the same drive I tackle mountains. There is no excuse to stop moving forward. If I want to reach the summit, I must keep climbing.&quot; Burton&#39;s Facebook post received a lot of positive responses from people who applauded her for sharing her recovery journey, and a slice of hope for people struggling with addiction.  Facebook  Facebook   Facebook   FacebookHopefully, Burton&#39;s post helped give someone the boost they need on their own recovery journey.