Written by Angela A.

In everyday life, I struggle with letting myself let go of how others live their lives, and letting go of control in mine.  It is definitely easier for me to realize that I am powerless over what people do, how they do it, why they do it, and where they do it.  By reviewing my 1^st step, I realize that my powerlessness over others needs to be given away to my Higher Power in my 3^rd step.

There are many times when I want to shake those I love and tell them that what they want is not what they need.  I have to realize that I cannot change anyone.  An individual can only change him or herself.  I have also been in situations where I do not want to live in the moment; however, I have to realize that my Higher Power puts me in specific moments to learn a particular life lesson that He has set before me.

When I live my life according to God’s will, which is doing the next right thing, I am much more content.  When I let others live their own life, I am more focused and less frustrated.  Thank God I don’t have to play God anymore.

Angela is currently enrolled as a resident in Gatehouse Academy’s addiction treatment program.  She offers her review and testimonial by telling us about a lesson she has learned from our 12-Step curriculum.

Written by Wes W

In my eight months as a resident at Gatehouse Academy, I have had to face many issues about myself and encounter problems with others. There are many small rules in place to help us work through our issues and build successful relationships with people.

During the week the community as a whole has a meeting each day where we’re given the opportunity to call our peers out on patterns or behaviors we feel are concerning or incidents of rule breaching. As a part of helping us learn from out mistakes and grow emotionally and spiritually Gatehouse Academy enforces a system of bans.

These bans include boy/girl ban, talking ban, newcomer ban, weight room ban, make-up ban, and specific residents can be banned from each other. The main purpose for these bans is to get us to look inside ourselves and be free from outside distractions and validations. It is about stepping out of our comfort zones and really facing ourselves. Obviously these bans are not fun, but the lessons they teach are invaluable.

Not long ago I myself was on talking ban for about two months. It was miserable and uncomfortable for a while but I had to make peace with myself and surrender to the things around me. I had to stop fighting everything and everyone. I can’t think of any other situation where it would be possible to learn so much about myself and I am grateful to be growing at Gatehouse Academy.

Wes is currently enrolled as a resident in Gatehouse Academy’s drug rehab program.  He will have 1 year clean and sober in December, and prepare for the next step in his Recovery.

Written by Kelli S.

“Perhaps the best thing of all for me to remember is that my serenity is inversely proportional to all my expectations.”

-Alcoholics Anonymous, pg 420

I have to remind myself this every single day. One of my biggest character defects is holding too high of expectations for myself and others. For me it’s simple, when I hold high expectations for myself and others and I or they don’t meet them I get resentful and fall into self-pity mode. Yes it is simple but not easy. I think the hardest part for me is that I tend to be a perfectionist. I want to be the best at everything I do and I have a hard time dealing with mistakes that I make. Over the past ten months I have learned that I’m not and never will be “perfect”.

After coming to this realization I’ve become so much more serene and content. I have learned to set goals rather than expectations. A goal is something that I can always work towards without set standards and time frames. My sponsor always tells me that expectations are pre-conceived resentments and for us alcoholics, resentments are our number one offender. If we hold onto them we will surely drink again. If I drink I’ll die and today I want to live!

Kelly is a current resident in Gatehouse Academy’s drug rehab program, and offers her review of the experience she has had in addiction treatment thus far.