Getting older is a natural part of life. Everyone will have to go through it eventually. However, despite being nothing more than a fact of life it is still more often than not depicted in a particularly negative light. People commonly dread the idea of aging, and try to avoid it however possible whether it be by means of hair-dye, anti-aging cream, or any other beauty product. 

While others are focused on the downsides to aging, Marvel actor, Josh Brolin, is in the opposite camp. He has embraced his age and because of this, has been able to flourish.

Brolin has expressed how much he has loved growing older and how it has allowed him to settle down and sober up. This year Brolin celebrated his tenth year of sobriety and was awarded with an Alcoholics Anonymous chip adorned with his name. 

The actor struggled for the greater part of his life with addiction as he started dabbling in different substances as young as nine years old. At nine it was Marijauna, and by thirteen LSD.

His mother before him was also a drinker, so picking up the bottle was almost like second nature. He did, on multiple occasions, attempt to give up alcohol. He tried to recover and move past it, but at that point in his life it just was not possible. The relapse was inevitable and each time it was crushing to him. As he yo-yoed between alcoholism and sobriety he was in and out of jail a total of nine times!

It was in 2013 that Brolin finally made a breakthrough in his healing journey. After he had been in a bar fight the night before, he’d woken up hungover in the street with a banging headache and drenched in sweat. That  in conjunction with seeing his grandmother on her deathbed opened his eyes to how precious life is and how necessary change is.