I Love Who I Have Become and I Wouldn’t Change it for the World
Words of hope and encouragement from a Narconon Arrowhead 2018 Graduate
Hi, my name is Luke and I was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. Before I did drugs, I was an athletic kid. I got straight A’s, and I was always doing something outside. I love playing basketball. I love playing baseball. I love playing sports. Some of the happiest moments of my life came while I was playing basketball while I was a kid. I got a couple MVP plaques from tournaments I played in throughout my years of playing basketball while growing up.
The first time I used drugs, I was a sophomore in high school and I started smoking marijuana. And then that led to me doing harder drugs down the road. I started getting into cocaine. One of the reasons I started using cocaine was because a family member, my brother, told me it was okay and that I would like it. And what I teach my son now is that just because a family member says it’s okay doesn’t mean that it’s okay. We all make bad choices in life, but when listening to a loved one, it’s hard to question whether it’s right or wrong.
From cocaine, I switched to methamphetamines. I couldn’t wake up without using methamphetamines to get me going in the mornings.
Drugs really affected my life later when I was into my methamphetamine-using days because I had a child and his mother almost took him away from me because I couldn’t stop using. And that really caused me to stop and think about where I want to be in life in 5 to 10 years instead of using drugs. I tried getting help in my community, and the help that they gave me was not good. They tried putting me on other drugs to get me off of one drug, and that was not a good thing at all.
I lost all kinds of things while I used drugs. I sold a whole wardrobe of over $1,000 worth of jerseys just to get drugs. I sold 2 vehicles just to get drugs. There were a lot of stupid choices and decisions that I made while I was on drugs that a human being really shouldn’t make, but drugs really put a downfall on the human mind and cloud it very well. It also affected relationships between my parents and brothers and sisters and my friends all around me including my son’s mom. I almost went to jail at the end of my using because I was so far out there.
When I wanted to stop I had to make a phone call to someone and tell them I needed help, and the person I called was my Uncle Chris. He wasted no time in getting me down to Narconon to get me clean and to get me back into society. That’s who introduced me to Narconon. And I couldn’t be happier now that I look back, and I thank him every day that he took me here.
When I first got to Narconon, I was pretty nervous, but the friendly staff and people there and the other people getting clean were very loving and caring. They treated me like I was one of their sons pretty much. I loved how we had partners to keep an eye out on each other. And I stayed at Narconon because I wanted to get clean, and the way you guys clean people out is amazing. It’s the best way anyone should ever get cleaned out.
I would have to say that the sauna, when you step inside there and you start burning those drugs out of your system, is one of the best parts of it especially because when you come out of there you feel like a revived newborn baby that’s never used drugs in their life. I would have to say it is the fountain of youth. Then you go into the classrooms and that’s when I had my first realization. I started to cry when I knew that I would could say no to drugs and that when I got back into society I would be strong enough to say no.
All of the staff down there are amazing. You guys treated us so well and loved us so much and when we needed something you guys were right there to help us.
I have been drug-free now since February 12, 2018, and I graduated on April 27, 2018, and ever since I left that facility, I’ve never felt happier. I’ve never been happier about my life and who I get to be every day in this society in the world we live in. I get to be myself drug-free every day that I’m alive from here on out and it’s the most amazing feeling ever. I would recommend Narconon to anyone with a drug problem and I always do.
My life is different because I take one step at a time and I can actually have a grown conversation with people around me. I can actually understand what we’re talking about most of the time and if I don’t understand, I actually mention that I don’t understand. When you’re talking to adults, we all have to make sure we’re on the same page, and that’s what I love about it. I’m not on drugs, so I can understand and listen and pay attention.
The things I learned in the course that I still use today are to talk to people face-to-face and not be afraid to voice your opinion or voice when you don’t understand something.
“One of my proudest accomplishments is that I get to wake up every day and live this life to the fullest in a sober body. I get to wake up every day and go to work and pay bills and feel like a man and be a man around my son.”
One of my proudest accomplishments is that I get to wake up every day and live this life to the fullest in a sober body. I get to wake up every day and go to work and pay bills and feel like a man and be a man around my son. I get to teach my son the right way to live instead of teaching him the stupid idiot way to live, like I used to.
The relationships I have now with people that used to know me when I was on drugs are amazing. Some of those people really see the change in me from when I used to be a drug addict. I’m not like that anymore, and the relationships I have with those people are amazing because they knew me before I got clean, they knew me while I was an addict, and they know me still. And some of them say that I’m in the best-looking shape and the best mind frame that they’ve ever seen me in. It adds an amazing feeling when people tell you that they’re proud of you for sticking to the plan and keeping on-track and staying sober.
One of my favorite things I get to do now is wake up at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning and get up and go to work and feel like a man. Those are my favorite days when I get to go to work for 8 to 10 hours a day, I get to get off, I go home and cook dinner, and I get to see my son. Those are the best days of my life. I wouldn’t have those days today if it wasn’t for Narconon and my Uncle Chris.
Some advice I would give to somebody that is still a user today is that you need to put the pipe, you need to put those drugs down, and you really need to look at your life and what you want in life. I always wanted a family and I don’t have one, but at least I still have my son. My son and I are my family. I wouldn’t have this family I have now if it wasn’t for Narconon.
Addiction is hard to give up, but recovery is well worth it, and living in the now is well worth it. I always used to think about where my next high was going to come from, and that is the worst feeling ever. One of the best feelings, like I said, is that I get to get up at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning after I had a good night’s sleep and go into society and be a man and pay my bills and teach my son. Those were some of the worst feelings: when you came down off your high and you had nobody. I would really tell the person that is still using today that it is so much, so much better on the other side. And people treat you so much better on the other side and that’s the truth.
To the people in early recovery, I would say don’t give up. Don’t fall. But we will fall and that’s okay. Because when we do fall we have the strength and we have the mind strength to pick ourselves back up again. I believe you will be asked—if you go back to the same community you came out of—if you want to do drugs again. I know I did. But when that came about, I was ready and equipped with the right things to say, and I was ready and equipped with the right moves to make because Narconon gave me the ability to say no and to be strong enough to say no to anyone and anything.
“It’s going to feel so good when you do say no and I can say that that smile that is on your face, that is on my face, is one of the best smiles that you will have in your life after you finish the program. I wish I could send every drug addict I knew down to Narconon!”
I love who I have become and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Like I said, I get to wake up with no worries in the world really besides going to work and paying my bills and raising my son to be a man too. That’s one thing that I was going to lose if I kept using drugs. So I thank everyone who helped me get down there, and I thank everyone down there who helped me get through the program, and I thank everyone who still helps me today because it does get easier. When you first get out of recovery, you will feel nervous about going back into the community you left. But you have to understand and you have to know that you will be strong enough to say no. It’s going to feel so good when you do say no, and I can say that that smile that is on your face and that is on my face are the best smiles that you will have in your life after you finish the program. I wish I could send every drug addict I know down to Narconon!
So to everyone down at Narconon, I say thank you. To my Uncle Chris and Aunt Melanie, I say thank you. To my son’s mom, I say thank you. To my son, I say that I pray every day I’m the man you need in your life!
Luke W., 2018 Narconon Graduate
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