I Can Finally See My Life Going Forward: A Recovery Story
Recovery is not always an easy road. Sometimes, the greatest breakthroughs come after the hardest days. At Narconon Suncoast, we see this transformation happen routinely as students work through each stage of the program. Recently, one of our graduates reflected on what he learned while completing The Objectives, a major step. His words offer a powerful look at the determination, discipline, and self-discovery that can emerge during the recovery process.
Testing My Patience
“Doing all these drills showed me a lot about myself. It taught me a lot as well. From the beginning, I thought this would be a cakewalk, but I was wrong. It tested my patience, discipline, faith, and everything I thought I knew about myself. I had so many days I just wanted to give up and leave. The anger, frustration, and depression I was dealing with, I now see, are all temporary feelings.
“These drills taught me to push through, to keep at it because now I see things do get better later, but in order for that to happen, you have got to put the work in. Nothing falls out of the sky, and the completion of the Objectives didn’t either.”
Rediscovering Self-Control and Discipline
For this graduate, completing the Objectives was about more than finishing a series of exercises. It allowed him to recognize what drug use had taken away and begin rebuilding.
“When I was smoking weed, I would get mad faster than before I started smoking. I’m back to the old me—before the weed. I have self-control. I have discipline. I have that fight in me to complete something I started. Weed stripped those things away from me. I acquired those skills finishing this process.”
“I worked hard to finish, and it’s the best feeling in the world.”
What Are Objectives as Delivered at Narconon?
After completing Drug-Free Withdrawal and New Life Detoxification, students at Narconon Suncoast move into the Objectives portion of the program. The Objectives are designed to help students become more aware of their present environment and improve their ability to connect with others.
Drug use can dull a person's awareness and make it difficult to fully engage with the people and circumstances around them. The Objectives are intended to help students shift their attention away from disturbing memories associated with drug use, all subjective matters, and toward the present environment and things that are more, you guessed it, objective.
During various stages of the program, students work on Objectives each day. Through these exercises, they drill becoming more comfortable communicating, observing their surroundings, and addressing situations in the present rather than remaining focused on the past.
Learning to Push Through
For our graduate, the Objectives became a lesson in perseverance. His experience ultimately changed the way he viewed challenges.
“Everything I learned here, I can take into the real world to help me persevere no matter what life throws at me.”
“I’m free from myself. I finally can see my life going forward. I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Now I truly see that if you push through, you can bring what you want to achieve to fruition.
“My mom always told me anything worth having is worth working for. I wanted a new me, and the Objectives helped me get to the new me. I worked hard to finish, and it’s the best feeling in the world.
“Everything I learned here, I can take into the real world to help me persevere no matter what life throws at me. Thank you!”
What Comes After Objectives? Life Skills.
Our Objectives graduate talks about taking his skills into the real world; that is exactly what the next part of the Narconon Suncoast program is built around. Helping our students bring much-needed Life Skills back into life, setting them up to avoid the pitfalls of the past and truly prosper this time around. The courses in the Life Skills segment of the Narconon program are designed around key skills and abilities such as:
- Recognizing positive and negative influences: Students examine how the people they associate with can affect their choices and future. They learn to recognize relationships that support a drug-free life and identify people or situations that could make returning to old patterns more likely.
- Making better decisions about relationships: Students look at how past choices involving friends, acquaintances, and other relationships may have contributed to problems in their lives. They learn to approach those decisions differently moving forward.
- Rebuilding personal values: Students examine the principles and standards that matter to them and consider how drug use may have caused them to lose sight of those values. They work toward restoring a stronger sense of personal responsibility and self-respect.
- Taking responsibility for the past: Students learn how to address actions and obligations from their past rather than allowing guilt, regret, or unresolved situations to continue affecting their present. The goal is to help them make peace with what happened and move forward, even when this may require action to be taken to right wrongs or make up for damage they have personally caused.
- Taking practical steps toward solutions: Rather than simply recognizing a problem, students learn a step-by-step approach to correcting situations and creating better conditions in their lives.
These are the kinds of skills our graduates can take with them beyond our facility. The goal is not simply to receive a completion certificate, but for each student to leave with greater confidence in their ability to handle life as it comes—moving forward to live drug-free, for good.
Begin Your Own Path Forward
Every person's recovery road is different. At Narconon Suncoast, we help individuals work through each stage of our program with the goal of giving them practical tools and skills they can carry with them always.
If you or someone you love is struggling with drug use and looking for a path toward a drug-free life, we invite you to learn more about the Narconon program and how we can help. Contact Narconon Suncoast today to speak with a member of our caring team.