I Did Things The Right Way and It Paid Off

I was born in Spokane, Washington. I’m 33 years old. I had a good childhood growing up and was raised by my mom and dad. I am the oldest of four girls. My dad is retired from the Air Force and I grew up in a traditional military family. For the most part, I stayed out of trouble. When I was twenty years old I had my son. He will be thirteen in July.

I didn’t start drinking really until I was 21 and that is also when I started smoking a lot of weed. About 5-6 years later I became addicted to Percocet and that lasted for about six months. I started drinking really heavy around the time I turned 25 and it got progressively worse over the years. My addiction affected my relationship with my family big time. I turned into a liar and a manipulator and refused to confront my issues in life. My mom and dad lost trust in me and they no longer believed anything I would tell them. Conversations between my sisters and I became strained and they really had nothing to say to me. I became violent in my relationship and eventually got arrested for the first time in my life because of this. My addiction impacted my life tremendously, and it was bad.

In March, I was worse than I ever had been, so I reached out to my ex-father-in-law for help. He had sent his daughter and nephew to Narconon and he himself had gone through the program in Oklahoma. He set everything up for me and less than a week later I arrived at Narconon Suncoast.

When I got to Narconon I was totally out of my element. A staff member picked me up from the airport and brought me here. The first place I went was the withdrawal area. Everybody here was super nice and friendly and you could tell they truly wanted to help you. I was obviously uncomfortable because everything was so new to me, but I wanted to get clean. Not only for my son and family, but also for myself. I knew I couldn’t keep going on the way I was. I was slowly killing myself. So I stuck it out and it changed my life.

Narconon has four steps in the program. The first step is withdrawal, then the sauna New Life Detox, after that was objectives and lastly was life skills. I personally gained the most from objectives and life skills. In objectives, I learned how truly important being in present time is and that’s something I’ve always struggled with, also I have learned that communication is key. I had an amazing twin that was by my side and she helped me through this part of the program. I owe a lot to her. Life skills was a struggle for me. I had to actually look at myself and take responsibility for my actions. I had to confront issues in my life that I had buried and never faced. I used to avoid doing that and I didn’t have that buffer here. It was hard and there were plenty of tears but I did it. It truly feels amazing.

I am so proud of myself for completing the program. I worked so hard and I feel so accomplished. I did things the right way and the hard work paid off.

“I know I can’t change what I’ve done in the past but I now have the tools to prevent myself from making the same mistakes in the future.”

I am looking forward to rebuilding the relationships I hurt during my addiction and regaining that trust. I know I can’t change what I’ve done in the past but I now have the tools to prevent myself from making the same mistakes in the future. I am very excited to live a happy and sober life. The sky’s the limit.

Thank you, Narconon!!!

—B.H., Narconon Suncoast Graduate