In the world of addiction, according to Michael Wood, you "recover, die or go to jail."

Wood battled a decades-long cocaine addiction before quitting at the age of 59.

When Wood began using cocaine at 20, he had already been abusing alcohol and smoking marijuana for several years.

"I've lost every job I've ever had," he said. "I chose my career of drugs over my career on anything else."

Wood tried to quit several times and finally succeeded two years ago. He said that there were two main things that aided his recovery: first, a will to change himself and second, having no soft place to land.

Elizabeth Anton, a licensed therapist and addiction recovery counselor, said for an addict to recover from addiction, he or she must want it more than anything.

Wood went to treatment centers and jails, both of which tried to keep him clean. Eventually, however, his parents would take him back in and give him money. He said that they were enabling him to continue down that path.

After his parents died, he bought an apartment and stayed high for six months.

"Eventually I ran out of money and food," he said. "And I came to the realization that nobody wanted me. Nobody wanted me in the condition that I was in."

At this, Wood moved to Chapel Hill for a change of scene and spent two weeks sleeping on the homeless shelter's floor.

During his time at the men's homeless shelter, Wood attended many of Anton's group therapy sessions with several other people affected by addiction.

Wood realized he had hit rock bottom and that a change needed to happen.

"People don't come to treatment until they can see their problems,' Anton said. "If you spend as much time staying sober as you do getting high - put the same effort into it - you'd have a chance. So I stayed busy."

Wood joined any organization that would let him, including the Chapel Hill Senior Center where he got a scholarship to use the gym. He made a friend there who had Parkinson's disease, and they gave each other support and encouragement through rough times.

"I realize that it helps me to help somebody else. Nothing inoculates me from myself more than helping others," Wood said.

As he was going through recovery, he came to Anton's group therapies as a motivational speaker.

"There are lots of people just like him, and they respected him," Anton said.

Today, Wood works at the Community Empowerment Fund, a Chapel Hill organization offering financial literacy to the poor and homeless.

Wood teaches a weekly class on Sundays for men on topics such as civics, interview techniques and financial planning.

Anything that will help someone regain his or her self-esteem and self-sufficiency can help an addict recover, Anton said, which is why classes like Wood’s are important.

Wood said he feels uniquely qualified to teach that class because he has been through what many of his students are going through now.

"Michael is bright, he has a heart and he came down so hard," Anton said. "He wanted his self-respect back but he still kept his personality intact. Most have tried to quit at some point but it is incredibly hard. It takes everything you have."

Addiction, Wood said, is so complicated that it feels like another person is living inside of him.

"It's a cunning adversary," he said. "Once it gets its foot in the door, it'll take over your life dose by dose."

Wood, who owned two different restaurants several years ago, said his money was spent to fuel his addiction to cocaine.

His addiction cost him more than just his salary - it cost him his family, Wood said.

"I have mitigated things that I've done wrong, but I can't get back them 40 years that I wasted," he said.

It is important to realize that there are countless factors that lead someone to addiction, Anton said, including inability to handle emotions, stress, biological tendency and traumatic memories. Those factors also have a hand in preventing the addict from quitting.

"People who say, 'Just say no' or 'What's wrong with you? Just stop,' have no experience with addiction. Nothing is that black and white," Anton said.