A New Me

 

Before I started drinking, my life was highly disciplined and very enjoyable. I traveled internationally for work, had a lot of fun, got married, had two wonderful boys, and was independently wealthy. I had a fantastic life. One of the happiest moments I remember was when my son was born, and I became a father. My son was someone I would walk through fire for.

I first started drinking when I retired from my employer of 20 years. I was bored, had a lot of money and not a lot to do, so I chose to drink.

The biggest impact alcohol had in my life was the amount of time I lost and things that occurred through the years that I could not remember. Due to drinking, there are entire years I don’t remember.

At first, I thought it did not impact my relationship with my family as they did not know the condition I was in as I was not around. My absence and the fact I was not in communication with them created a constant concern with my siblings wondering where I was all the time.

One day, I woke up in a place I did not know, and at that point, I realized I needed some help. Even after that, I kept drinking, and I would do well for a while and then binge drink and end up at the hospital. I repeated that cycle over and over again.

Then, one day, I woke up at the hospital because alcohol almost killed me. I realized that at my age, I could not keep doing this and needed to have a better understanding of why I kept repeating the same cycle and going through these ups and downs.

I decided to go to Narconon. The staff were very helpful and pleasant. What made me stay is that I believed the program could help me.

My single biggest win while going through Narconon was to learn how to stay in the present and stop worrying about the future. I learned how to separate myself from my environment as oftentimes, with my alcoholism, I would tangle up in a situation that was bad and not be able to get out of it. I was able to clear my mind and figure out how to stay on the right path and confront my responsibilities.

I felt good when I graduated because I completed the program, and I had a very clear path forward. I was very happy about that.

Through the Life Skills courses, I learned that the profession of electrical engineering I retired from was not the right environment for me. I changed my career completely and looking forward, I am comfortable I can thrive in life as I know I am a better human being and can get better and better.

I have a lot of skills that I use in different aspects of my life. For example, I am a world-renowned controls engineer. My siblings and I are very close now, and all four of us have two kids, and we are a very tight family. I am also very proud of my children who I raised to be productive members of society. They are all grateful I am close to them again and are happy to have their brother and father back.

My favorite thing about being sober is my clarity of mind as well as my health.

“My advice for anyone suffering from addiction is to not delay and get help immediately because if you delay, you only make things exponentially worse, physically and emotionally.”

My advice for anyone suffering from addiction is to not delay and get help immediately because if you delay, you only make things exponentially worse, physically and emotionally.

R.S., Narconon Graduate