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Walking The Journey Together
EVERY SCAR HAS A STORY
The Moments That Tried to Break and Built Me
These memories aren't polished. They're real, raw chapters of a life forged through loss, violence, faith, and survival. Inside these stories are lessons that can either drag you down... or pull you forward. If you're ready to confront your own past and rise from it - start reading.
The Night I Stopped a Robbery and Lost My Job at Burrito Bandito
I vaulted over the counter without hesitation, fists clenched, heart steady, ready to defend the place I worked. We didn’t exchange words. We just acted.
Together, we stopped him. We dropped him to the floor, held him down, beat the shit out of him and made sure he understood every bad choice that led him through that door.
Eric J Herrholz
3 min read
Outrunning the Law: My Teenage Race Against Detective Mike Merlo in Chicago's Southside
Every time I thought I had a moment to breathe, the sirens would wail, and I’d be back on the run. Detective Merlo was relentless. He knew my patterns, my hangouts, and my weaknesses. It felt like a game I was doomed to lose, but I kept playing anyway.
Eric J Herrholz
3 min read
Practical Strategies for Discovering Life Purpose Methods
I’ve been there. Staring into the void, feeling like life’s just a series of random events with no real meaning. The kind of emptiness that gnaws at your soul, especially when trauma has left its ugly mark. But here’s the raw truth: discovering your true purpose isn’t some mystical, far-off quest . It’s gritty, messy, and deeply personal. And it starts with action. Let me walk you through the practical strategies that helped me claw my way out of the darkness and find a purpo
Eric J Herrholz
5 min read
Taming Tigers and Tattoos: My Wild First Ink Experience in the Badlands
My buddy Crazy Johnny had connections—his Uncle Mark was friends with these guys. That’s how I found myself in the middle of this gritty scene, ready to get my first tattoo. But the story wasn’t just about the tattoo itself; it was about the challenge that came before it.
Eric J Herrholz
3 min read
From Living in a Buick Regal to Finding Hope: My Journey Through Darkness at 16
At 16, most teenagers are navigating school, friendships, and dreams. I was living in a car, cold and isolated. The Buick Regal was my shelter, but it was also a prison. The winter made every night a battle against the cold, and the loneliness was suffocating. I was caught in a cycle of substance abuse, trying to numb the pain that came from years of being used and abused
Eric J Herrholz
4 min read
Harnessing Instinct: The Unseen Armor of Survival in a Betraying World
Instinct is not paranoia. It is a finely tuned radar that senses danger without words or eye contact. It is the ability to move away from threats before they fully appear. This survival skill develops because the body and mind refuse to surrender, even when hope seems lost.
Eric J Herrholz
3 min read
WHEN DOING FOR THEM IS EASY… BUT ASKING FOR ANYTHING BACK IS A CRIME
Some folks love you as long as you’re the one doing the giving. The moment you ask for something simple — support, effort, respect, a favor half the size of what you’ve done for them — suddenly it’s: an ordeal an inconvenience a guilt trip a whole dramatic performance.
And that’s when the truth hits you: You were never dealing with a partner. You were dealing with a taker.
Eric J Herrholz
2 min read
THE DRUNK BUM MY MOM DATED
There were nights I wanted to stuff him in the trunk of his own Cadillac and send him to the bottom of Chevy Lake — the same lake where we parked the “borrowed” cars. Not because I’m violent. Because I was a kid drowning in chaos, watching a grown man destroy everything he touched.
Phil wasn’t just a drunk. He was a symbol — of everything broken, everything unfair, everything upside‑down in my life after my father died.
Eric J Herrholz
2 min read
I came from the darkness only to become the light
Being alone at 14 is a heavy burden. It’s a time when you need support the most, yet I felt invisible. The people around me were not friends but predators who used and abused my vulnerability. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being surrounded by people but still feeling utterly alone.
Eric J Herrholz
3 min read
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