From Addiction to Acceptance

“Belonging is not fitting in; it’s being accepted for being yourself.” - Brene Brown

Until March of 2024, Jake Moore didn’t know his biological parents. He was adopted before he was even a year old. Then at age six he was put into the foster care system due to his adopted parent’s struggle with addiction. He stayed there until he was fourteen and adopted again to a loving and strict family. It is safe to say that Jake struggled with belonging for most of his life since he didn’t even really know where or who he came from.

Because he had strict parents who cared for him during his teenage years, he didn’t act out until later on. It wasn’t until after high school, that he was able to feel his emotional numbness. He began drinking and using drugs. It got to the point that his friends, even the ones who were drinking with him, said that they care about him but will have to stop hanging out with him if he continues to do the things he’s doing. They knew he was better than who he was becoming. This was the turning point for Jake. November of 2024. The same month his biological father passed away, the one he only knew for eight months. 

For a while, he went through the withdrawals that quitting an addiction brings. He didn’t even know he could actually die from quitting until months later. But he survived it. That wasn’t the end of his battle though. Without having an escape from his painful thoughts and triggering past, he fell into a depression. Most days, it was hard for him to get up. He also intentionally isolated himself from the people in his life because he was so overwhelmed with the memories he was choosing to face. For the first time, he realized he spent his whole life trying to fit in, trying to be liked. He never really had a safe place he felt he could just be himself in other than a summer camp he attended for 9 years. 

After feeling through all this pain he realized that in order to accept love, we have to accept ourselves. That means we accept our past and we accept the person we are right now. Our lives do not have to be perfect for us to accept ourselves. Healing is not linear. We can have good and bad days. We just have to have the same intention every day that supports our growth and healing. On top of this, we cannot allow other people to love us if we cannot see for ourselves what they see within us. Jake was always good at giving love but bad about receiving it because he didn’t understand why people were giving love to him. He didn’t see his worth. There is an importance put on not only seeing the good in ourselves but also surrounding ourselves with people who see that same good in us. People who genuinely love us and know how to show it. Because we adopt the same views as the people around us. If all of our peers see us, love us, and believe in us then so do we. For Jake, the Manifest Omaha community really taught him this when they welcomed him in with open arms. Kaleb and Sam really made him feel comfortable which was a pivotal time for him since he hadn’t felt that in very many places. Because of the love he has allowed them to show him, he has been able to show others more love too. Talk about a domino effect. 

If you didn’t know Jake’s whole story, it may have appeared to you that he was an overnight success. That he simply got lucky this past November after connecting to several people within the Manifest Omaha community and gaining several speaking opportunities to share his story, publish a book called Twice Adopted, and start a Sober Community. His soon to be nonprofit community just had its first event, a Super Bowl party. One of the members of Manifest Omaha gave their air bnb space to him for the event and he was able to have 25 people show up. In addition, he has another speaking opportunity coming up this Sunday. It was a full circle moment for him to receive a call from an old friend he used to drink with asking for the information on the event. 

Since Jake learned how to belong to himself, he’s no longer a lone wolf. He has an army of people behind him supporting him because he allows them to see him for who he is and therefore allows them to love him. We are all meant to live in a community. We are not meant to do it all alone. Thank you Jake for this inspiring story on what it means to belong to yourself and others wholeheartedly. 

THAT’S LOVE.

Most Loved Omaha Spot:

He loved the Dry Spoke but unfortunately it is closing. So, The 5th House it is. It’s a vegan spot in Black Stone. On the weekends, they have a DJ who plays EDM music which turns the place into a fun dancing space. 

Shana Schoone writes “The Heart of Omaha,” a weekly column celebrating all the ways love is shown in the O.

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