Narconon gave me my life back

I chose alcohol over my family, myself. I was a hometown athlete. After high school, I turned down a football scholarship and a wrestling scholarship to go into the Marine Corps. Did eight years in the Marine Corps—amphibious marine recon.

I went back home. And I had gotten divorced and I felt like I needed something to numb the pain. I started drinking miniatures at first. And then from miniatures it led to half-pints, to pints, to a fifth, fifth and a half a day. I couldn’t stop myself. Once that certain time came where it was time for me to get off of work—like an hour before I was starting to have the alcohol cravings. “Oops. Got to have it. Got to have it.” My temper would, you know, my whole attitude would change.

The more I drank, the less I started caring about the outside life—started cutting myself off from work. Finally, eventually I quit work. I was hiding—trying to hide the alcohol from my brothers and my sister and my parents. [I’d have] a fifth stashed in the closet or a fifth underneath my mattress or a fifth in the dirty clothes hamper.

Basically, I didn’t have a life anymore. I just hung out in my bedroom and drank. That’s why I was ashamed of myself because, you know, I was like a man of pride and honor and supposedly supposed to have the utmost control of myself. But alcohol took over.

When I got here to Narconon, my appetite started coming back, I could see clearer, think clearer again, didn’t crave the alcohol. The craving was gone. I didn’t crave it at all. I couldn’t believe it! It was like, “Wow.” It was a great feeling not to crave it anymore.

And the more I got into the Narconon courses, I was actually really able to hold my head high again. I was actually talking with a lot more people and a lot more students. My whole self-esteem and confidence level was way back up. I was feeling like a brand-new guy. And I was like, “Wow. What’s going on?” You know—and every day, day by day, I started feeling better and better and better and better about myself and who I was again.

Narconon gave me my life back and more—and myself. It helped me get my self-confidence back, helped me get my pride back, helped me get my honor back.