A Story of Redemption, a Story of Hope
My name is Matt, and for the first time in 15 years and 45 days, I can tell my story sober. I came into Narconon Suncoast as a guy who had spent the last decade of his life burning bridges, making enemies, and hurting the ones I love. I was in a physical and mental state that had spun completely out of control and cost me so many friends, loved ones, and opportunities in my life. I was depleted. I had given up. I couldn’t take one more day of living in constant pain or inflicting it on others. I got to withdrawal on October 23, 2019. At first, I was apprehensive but after 7 days of structured sleep and food, I adjusted to my surroundings.
The sauna portion of the program lasted 41 days for me, and while it was difficult at times, I started to feel my mind becoming more at ease and my body working with it again. My appetite was increasing, my anger and mental anguish started to dissipate and physically I felt better than I had in a long time. Objectives were stressful at times, which causes some anger and confusion to teach patience and clarity and how to work through life’s stressful moments instead of letting the stress win out. I learned about conquering the environmental stress and enduring life’s tests in a healthy way.
Life Skills is where I started to let go of my pain. This part of my life is going to take a long time for me to fully heal from and I will need constant reminding of who I am supposed to be and not who I was in active addiction. It is a huge weight lifted knowing that while I made mistakes all humans do and I’m not the only one. There is an answer and a way out of this black hole we call addiction. I can’t speak for the future because I’ve got a lot of work to do within myself, but presently I know I made the right decision.
“If I could do something or share something to help the next guy or girl like me start to free themselves from the pain they feel, I would embrace them and tell them that the world needs more people to a hopeful story, the world is rich with tragedies.”
If I could do something or share something to help the next guy or girl like me start to free themselves from the pain they feel, I would embrace them and tell them that the world needs more people to a hopeful story, the world is rich with tragedies. Instead, make the decision to be a story that moves someone.
M.G.—Narconon Suncoast Graduate
