I am a recovering Alcoholic and Addict. This is my story to freedom.

Hi, my name is Wayne, and I am a Recovering Alcoholic / Addict.

Thank you for allowing me to share my testimony.

I was over 40 when I entered treatment for alcoholism. Everyone around me was between 22 and 32. l was in treatment with individuals who were on actual hardcore drugs, either heroin or meth addicts. Despite obvious differences, I tried to look at similarities and stay open-minded.

In the great hindsight of looking back at the destruction I created in my days of using marijuana, alcohol and cocaine, I’m grateful to say it holds no power over me anymore. I have amended it and I am free and wholesome.

I used marijuana and alcohol from the ages of 14 to age 19. I stopped marijuana as it had started causing paranoia, but the use of alcohol continued and slowly but progressively led to full-blown alcoholism. Looking back, I can see how the progression played out in the following stages from Use – Misuse – Abuse – Dependency. I cannot tell you the age I was when I transgressed through these stages; however, at age 41 my life became unmanageable and I had hit rock bottom. It was then that I reached out for help and with the support of my family and loved ones, I was admitted to rehab. Therapy unveiled the denial which, after vigorous attempts and failures, I was educated and nurtured into exploring, working through and understanding all my issues. Childhood trauma and losses were, which I now understand, the underlying issues leading up to my substance abuse. I am ever-so-grateful for the professionals for their care and understanding throughout my journey to recovery. It did not happen overnight, but with continued therapy and dedicated willingness (on my part) to change my life for the better, I have achieved what I thought at the time impossible “SOBRIETY”.

I am now able to deal with life on life’s terms and I am passionate about helping others achieve the same. I came to believe that I was an alcoholic and addict and that I would remain one for the rest of my life. This understanding was not a death sentence as I came to experience and understand the disease of addiction. The positives of staying clean and sober far outweigh the life I once lived and I vowed to never allow myself to go back there. ‘Never say never’ they say, so I am aware of all the triggers and toxic people, places and things in my life and choose to avoid them at all costs. Now, clean & sober, I continue on a daily basis to let go of the hurt that once controlled me as well as the emotional pain of grief, guilt, abuse, shame, resentment and many

more torments I had created or had been directed at me in the once hostile world I lived in.

It is like seeing the world through a new pair of glasses, the freedom and sense of worth returning is priceless. For many years EGO was my ENEMY. The most important part of recovery is humility and gratitude. Attitudes and my whole outlook on Life needed to change for change to happen within. “Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes”: I had to seek HELP and I am so grateful that I did.
As the 400-year-old poem against isolationism goes, “No man is an island of itself, every man and woman are part of the continent, all a part of the Main”, You are NOT ALONE please reach out and let me help you, we can do this.

The Life Shift.

The way forward for me was building a relationship with myself and cleansing my soul, coupled with building self-love, self-esteem and emotional maturity. I began to thrive in life, and I had the ability to tell my family I loved them and life began to blossom. I felt worthy enough to become a counsellor after serving 25 years in a corporate environment. I had the confidence to resign and further my education in psychology and obtain the necessary Higher Education to assist others caught up in alcoholism and addiction. I have worked in community centres and later established and opened a well-established rehabilitation centre where young and old folk were destined for the same path I was once on.