Remember Your Why

Patrick has been sober since 1986. His addiction began around 13 years of age at a friends house with some punch that was different from what he drank as a kid. He says he became an "instant alcoholic." He felt peaceful and accepted, which we all longed for. His interest in playing sports changed because he just wanted to drink. It was a psychic change. Knowing the drink was there was always a relief. 

Hear about Patrick's progression in this episode and how he overcame his addiction. 

Anora's date of sobriety is December 8, 2018. Took her two years before that to be gifted by the program. It was a struggle and a gift. She had two stints in rehab before that. 

A large part of her drinking was filling up what was empty inside. It filled a void. It's crazy to think how many of us had good parents, good education, kind siblings and beautiful children, but still had that emptiness. 

Anora was once turned away from the wine shop due to her excessive drinking, even living in Italy, where wine is widely accepted and a way of life. She was cut off. Another time, she ended up in the psych ward due to her children calling her mother in America saying "Mommy's threatening to jump out the window." 

Add on top of everything else, the fact that she had a turbulent marriage which complicated things and in turn, is now estranged from her daughters. Hear Anora's story and how she turned her life around and is living a life in recovery. 

Mal has been sober since 1987. Alcoholism did run in his family, mostly in his uncles, who were great role models to him growing up. 

He first picked up a drink playing around with it here and there at the age of twelve/thirteen. It got serious when he was fifteen going to a school dance and he was going to meet girls, and he felt the need to feel comfortable, so he drank Southern Comfort and that worked wonders. This was a memory he remembered. It was a matter of fitting in and feeling good about himself. 

When his father died, he was only sixteen years of age. That's when the drinking escalated. There was no way of coping for him. He didn't have a lot of courage about him, so he felt he needed the alcohol. After that, it just progressed as time went by. At  the time it didn't ring any bells that the drinking was what was causing all of his problems. This realization came later on when he couldn't stop once he started. 

Mal should have died over and over again, but thankfully he lived to tell his story. Listen here.

Lindsey is a sober coach with 3.5 years of sobriety under her belt. 

She offers one on one coaching as well as a group coaching program called 'Sobriety is Your Edge.' She feels everyone is at different stages in their journeys so it varies to a degree. This helps spread the word that recovery is possible and that you do not have to drink. 

Lindsey was 'Friday Night Lights' in high school, and it was so normal that it seemed everyone was living the same lifestyle. Football games and the house parties after. She wanted to be popular, she wanted to fit in. She lived in a divorced family so her dad was not always home, and she threw parties all the time. College came and she drank every night of the week. Her grades suffered from the partying, but was able to graduate in the end with a respectable GPA.

She was a blackout drinker in college which later flowed over to her adult life before she got sober. After work, it was always happy hour. She created this life that revolved around socializing still, outside of work. This turned into drinking after the bars by herself at home. She always thought once she had a family she would have to stop drinking. But that unfortunately never happened for Lindsey. 

Hear her story here. 

Nicole has been sober for five years now. This is her second date. She was thirty three months when she relapsed. 

She grew up in a community in Canada where drinking alcohol, no matter the age was widely accepted. Did not seem out of the ordinary. The drinking culture was to "work hard, play hard." She first got really drunk at twelve years of age. She was very social and quite the planner, but this was because she was always loaded. 

She didn't want to be by herself because she was lonely. That big hole was filled with alcohol and drugs, and when she was by herself again the next day, the anxiety came back ten fold. 

She ended up in prison because of drugs. She was first introduced to drugs by her dad. It started as being more recreational, which was weed, but turned into acid and mushrooms. The booze was always a constant. Her marriage is what changed everything, because he was a drug dealer. Nicole was a lawyer, and doing very well, until everything spiraled downward about six months into being married. 

Her story is very intense, and filled with a lot of dark, scary and low moments. I am going to let her tell you... Please take a listen. 

Chloe has been sober since October 5, 2022.  She first picked up when she was 13 going on 14 and things progressed quickly- one day she was smoking week, the next doing pills, then she was doing ketamine. The drugs made her feel less depressed, but as we know- the cycle is: it takes it all away, but brings it all back ten fold. The height of her addiction included homelessness, sleeping on drug dealer floors, stealing, lying... and then some. Things got very dark and her health took quite a toll. 

Hear Chloe's story here... 

Vince has been sober since 2022.  For 40 years he had a lifetime of using substances to cope with his life. He experienced a lot of childhood trauma and a lot of loss. He had been running from his addiction from a young age. 

Now he is present and stops to see the little things in life, such as a butterfly landing, or looking at a cardinal, or having best friends. Clarity is a beautiful thing. And he's found it. He has found peace. 

Hear Vince's story here... 

Chas 'Colicchie' is a recovering addict, hip hop artist and loving father. He is also incredibly motivational and inspiring for fellow addict and alcoholics. 

His sobriety date is June 7, 2015. Not the first date he has had but the one he is keeping. When he was younger, he never felt whole. Just felt like an outcast. Once he found drugs and alcohol at a young age, it seemed to be the solution to every problem he had. He gravitated towards that euphoric feeling throughout the years that followed. 

It didn't matter which treatment center he was at, he would use almost instantly after being released. He didn't have anything to combat this illness, and he would always give in to the familiarity of the disease of addiction. 

After overdosing six times, Chas is lucky to be alive and I am so grateful he joined me to tell his story. 

Matthew is from Brooklyn, born & raised, and recently celebrated 14 months sober. 

His drug of choice was crack cocaine. That drug brought him to his knees and took everything from him. His higher power was a crack pipe. It quite literally beat him down. 

He had a very unpredictable childhood living with his father, and lots of trauma stemmed from that. It's been a long road working through this all, but I will let Matthew tell his story in this episode... please check it out. 

Darren is a happily married,  soon to be father and together with his wife, they will be welcoming their first child. He has been sober since 2008. 

When things got to the height of his addiction, it became "bender city" and just wasn't fun anymore. Waking up with a hangover and needing a bump of coke and a beer just to "level out." That is where his addiction took him. He was escaping from fear, from life, from everything. 

Now today, Darren says there is nothing better than putting your head on a pillow at night sober and then waking up sober.