Back to the real world

Written By: Haven House Sober Living Date: March 23rd, 2009. Topic: Member Blogs.

I have now been at Haven House for about a month. Everything so far has been going better that I had expected. The staff here has been very helpful and always supportive. The other residents have also been very accepting and easy to get along with. I came here after a 30 day in patient stay at Sierra Tucson in hopes of a smooth transition back to the real world. Up to this point I feel as though I have made some great progress to reaching my goals.

Everyday the house wakes up at 8:15 for a morning meditation, where we read a short recovery based meditation and discuss the day ahead. After meditation I usually do some of my chores and then get ready for the day. Around noon I go to an Intense Out Patient program that consists of group as well as individual therapy. This has been very helpful and educational for me. When I am finished with IOP I make my way back to the house. When I get home I like to play some ping-pong or pool with some of the other residents. At 6 o’clock everyday the house gathers for a family style dinner. Dinner is always great because we have a chef who preparers different things for us every night. After dinner me and some of the other residents usually head out to a meetings. Meetings are always beneficial and are also a great way to meet new and interesting people. It is also nice to have a group of friends from the house to attend meetings with so I don’t have to go alone. After meetings we sometimes go out for coffee or other activities, and then head back to the house for some TV or much needed R and R. My days are usually pretty busy and I get a good night of sleep. It is a nice change of pace and it feels good to know that I have been accomplishing things since I have been sober.

The staff has also done a good job in encouraging me to get a sponsor and work a good recovery program. Everyday is not easy and I have been confronted with some new challenges of staying sober but I feel good about myself to make it through tough times without using. It is nice to know that I always have good support around and I only need to worry about things one day at a time. I do not think I would still be doing so well if I had not made the decision to attend Haven House.

The road I took to get to the Haven house was not an easy one although it felt exciting at times. I was a casual pot smoker and drinker since the age of 16. By the time I got to college I was a daily drinker and habitual pot smoker. In college was where I discovered a little thing called pills. Oxycontin is a miracle of modern medicine that changed my life forever. After using it for the first time I knew it was that thing I was on this earth to do. Everything from the look taste, and ritual of its use was amazing for me. After spending my life savings on the little green pill I knew my life had become unmanageable. One day in an effort to save money I decided to try shooting up a mixture of heroin and cocaine. This proved to be just one of the many bad decisions I have made in life. The feeling I got from speedballs was the greatest feeling I have known in this life and can only be described like I had kissed God. After a relatively short 8 month span I had pawned everything I owned was kicked out on the street by my family and started stealing to support my habit. So after dropping out of school spending all of my money, ruining all of my relationships and 3 dui’s later I decided It might be time for a change. Between rehab and the Haven House things today couldn’t be better and I shutter to think where I would be today with those two things.

By ‘R.S.’

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