"From crystal Meth to sleeping pills to spiritual awakening"

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Marios and everyone at One Recovery for the care, compassion, and wisdom I’ve received over the past 19 months.

The growth I’ve experienced under your guidance goes far beyond anything I could have learnt through psychology alone. It has been a journey of the spirit ….a profound awakening to who I truly am.

Through this process, I’ve discovered the the effects Sleeping Pills can have on our brains techniques I can use in order to now have the full night sleep that I’m having without any drugs. I’ve learnt the triggers that pulled me into crystal meth and learnt abstinence can be lasting.. I've learnt actively listening, independence, self worth, resilience, strength, and hope. Most importantly, I’ve found a spiritual connection that anchors me in faith and peace. It reminds me that I am never alone….. that there is a loving Power guiding me towards healing, purpose, and freedom.

As I step forward into this new chapter of life, I do so with gratitude in my heart and trust in the path ahead. I look forward to living a sober life of meaning, presence, and serenity.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being part of my journey back to myself.

With love and gratitude

A positive story of recovery - Realisation

What a moment it is to reach this realisation in recovery. I’ve so often heard in the Rooms about a life beyond my wildest dreams. I used to wonder …. how could that be? When I heard someone talk about their happiness at home with their husband, kids, steady work and describe it as a life beyond their wildest dreams … I couldn’t understand how could that be a life beyond their wildest dreams? How could that compare with my old idea of success. My wildest dreams used to mean becoming a director of the world’s largest hairdressing company, travelling the world, doing Fashion Weeks. How could Recovery ever give me anything that topped that?

Now here I am, 19 months of coming into NA, 80 days clean this time. Four weeks ago, I left my house. I remember standing in that empty space, praying, thanking God for the 17 years with my partner and the children. It had been a happy house. Driving away that night, I felt peace — a sense that maybe this was the true, gentle closure of that chapter.

Since then, I’ve been living at my friend’s place. I’ve kept myself busy ….working all day, going straight to meetings, filling my time with purpose. As the weeks passed, I reflected on my addictions and remembered what my sponsor told me 80 days earlier: it wasn’t a drug problem, it was a me problem. I saw the patterns I’d repeated before, and this time I took his advice not to open those doors again.

I always thought I couldn’t be alone. But as the weeks went on, the anxiousness melted away. I started doing things I never imagined: going to the cinema on my own, eating in restaurants by myself, and enjoying it. I felt present, grounded. I thought back to the paranoia that drugs had brought me …how long the anxiety used to last …and realised that without using, there was no anxiousness at all. I started to truly enjoy my work and value the people around me. Everything seemed to flow towards me naturally.

Then came a call about Fashion Week. For a moment, I felt that old flicker of excitement ….the same flicker I used to get from addiction. I thought about how it would look on Instagram, how people would admire me, how the team would look up to me. And then I caught myself. I laughed. That was the old Me  ……the one who needed to be liked, the one lost in destructive behaviour. I’m not him anymore. I turned Fashion Week down. I don’t need those labels now. What I value is peace.

At my friend’s house, she has a dog. I’ve never been much of an animal lover, but in the last four weeks I’ve grown to like her very much . One day I took her for a walk and I found myself lying on the grass beside her, stroking stroking her in the sunshine, listening to the rustle of the trees, looking at the blue sky, feeling connected. And then it struck me: this is the life beyond my wildest dreams. Not the big shows or the labels, but this …. a divine presence, serenity, gratitude for the moment …. a new perspective

Now I understand what people in NA meant. I’m living it. Everything I’ve been through has been a lesson, guided by my Higher Power, leading me to this moment of independence, this open-mindedness. The labels have fallen away, and what’s left is my true self …. present, connected, feeling every emotion, a life beyond my wildest dreams one day at a time.