Remember Your Why

Greg's alcoholic and addictive behavior manifested in ways before it manifested in alcohol. In his early 30's the drinking began and he got sober at 39. 

Greg drank throughout college but for him, he never felt comfortable in his own skin. He never felt comfortable in his own skin, so he would seek validation through different ways. Early on it was steroids and the gym, then it was needed to get a 4.0 in school. And then the alcohol and drugs came into play. Once substances were in his body, he felt "normal." 

For him, he had to lose everything. He had the gift of desperation, which led him to recovery. 

Michael has been sober for over 3 years following a 20+ drinking career. Alcohol was his drug of choice. He knew he had the disease of alcoholism before he even took his first drink. Alcoholism ran in his family and he was scared to be like his dad. His earliest memories were of him passed out in the bathtub and those are tough images for a kid to see. 

During the ages of 18-40, Michael spent much of that drinking and had some negative experiences that came along with that. As addicts and alcoholics, we need to, many times, learn the hard way. One of those times landed him in jail until he had a bright light moment of surrender that led him into recovery. 

Check out Michael's story...

Jordan has been in recovery since 2022. He has suffered relapses, gone to many institutions, detoxes and sober houses. His drinking "career" first started around age 15 due to wanting to fit in, like many of us begin. Then pills came, and the harder drugs followed. Paired with his mental health, the road to sobriety did not come easy for him. 

Hear Jordan's story here...

Barry has been sober since 2013. He is originally from New York but currently living in Italy where he has experienced both the bottoms of sobriety as well as the gifts of sobriety there. 

His drinking career began back in the sixth grade. He grew up in chaos, and both his parents drank alcoholically. He became the stereotypical "bad boy" and did a lot of acting out which landed him in some juvenile detention centers. Barry credits alcohol for saving his life at a time when he didn't feel wanted and was surrounded by dark thoughts and in a world of depression. Until it didn't work... 

Hear the rest of his story and how he got sober, relapsed and found recovery again... 

***I do want to mention Barry was a member of the United States Air Force and I'd like to thank him for his service.***

Millions suffer from mental illness. It is so important to talk about because there is help available and so many are afraid to share their true feelings and emotions. It can be a matter of life and death. 

Michael has been suffering from depression, suicidal thoughts, anger, and anxiety. He has been in therapy on and off since the age of 12. He grew up with an abusive father which he speaks about further in the podcast, as well as how social media plays a role in mental illness and how others 'appear' to be happy but hiding behind a mask. 

Hear his story here...

Dennis first drank when he was 10 years old. Sure, it started out as just sips. But things, as they do, progressed as time went on. 

It went from drinking to smoking cigarettes and then weed. Fitting in was something Dennis wanted because he never felt comfortable in his own skin, or good enough for himself. Feeling he was a part of something was so crucial for him. Anything to fill that void was what he was searching for. 

By the end of high school, he was driving under the influence and the judgement was just not there. The bandaid got ripped off once college came around & partying was his main focus. Blacking out, being awake for a couple of nights in a row doing drugs... it became apparent to him that his life centered around it. 

Following an overdose, he woke up in the ICU on a ventilator,  in the same hospital he used to work at. Major wake up call. 

Hear all of Dennis' story here... 

Laureen is a mom to two boys from New York. She has 31 years of sobriety. 

She started drinking at the young age of 11/12 cleaning up after her parents parties and downing the drinks. She thought the taste was disgusting, but she enjoyed the fuzzy feeling. Alcoholism did run in her family- four out of seven of them are in recovery, while they are praying for one who is still suffering. Her mom started talking to her at age 18 about her alcoholism, so it was clearly prevalent, but Laureen didn't get sober until 31. 

For Laureen, drinking was her main thing, but other substances did come into play to aid and abet. She became homeless and found herself in a very violent situation where she thought she was going to be killed, and had the thought of thank God it's finally going to be over. She was at her lowest moment. 

Laureen ended up back home and had the help of so many people who reached out to her and were there for her. Getting sober alone cannot be done. WE need one another. 

Hear her story here! 

Lisa has been sober for 12.5 years, married & a mom of three kids.

She can honestly say she drank for more than half her life. Her first drink was at age 10. It started with parties because her older brother was a popular kid so they tagged along. Back then it was easy to obtain alcohol so it made things simpler in getting inebriated. 

She knew things were bad when she didn't want to eat and received bad news about her liver through blood work results. But she still didn't stop. Drunk driving with her kids in the car... nothing was enough yet to inspire her to stop drinking. She wasn’t ready. Until she was... 

One morning her husband said to her we need to get help. And she agreed. Because she was ready in that moment. It wasn’t until a year later that he informed her that she had left a voicemail on his work phone that night before she agreed to getting help saying, 'I need help.' 

Hear the rest of Lisa's story here and how she is handling dealing with addiction within her own family... What a brave woman she is! 

For Blake, alcohol helped him breathe when he was just 12 years young. That's how he felt. He drank and drove at that young age. It started early for Blake. Alcoholic drinking from 14 years old on was how he lived. Things, as they do with addicts and alcoholics, quickly progressed to drugs at age 16- weed came first, then coke, then pills and mushrooms. The progression goes so fast. 

It was a good time for awhile, but that sentiment stopped working at age 19. Blake was looking the for comfort and ease of being taken away from reality... but when the people around him started to excel in their lives he took a look at how he was living and the fun stopped for him. 

Hear all of Blake's story and how he eventually got the help he needed & how incredible his life is going now in recovery with five years sober. 

Quentin has been sober since 2018. He picked up his first drink around 11/12 years old but growing up he was big into sports and started out as just a weekend warrior. All through high school he wouldn't necessarily say it was manageable but he was just in a cloud and continued on. 

Once he picked up cocaine it all went downhill. He started using it, selling it and ended up getting arrested when he was 20 years old. He didn't realize the progression part until he was told he had to stop... and couldn't. At 21, he was looking at 25 to life, and put into a facility to get help with the addiction, and then a few halfway houses, but even still he was unable to not use. 

For Quentin, it took what it took. Listen to his story and how he finally did get sober. It's quite a story and one to check out!