12 Months after Rehab and Life is Great

Hi, I’m Phil. On March 17, 2020 it will be 12 months since I completed a 90-day residential rehabilitation program at the Hader Clinic Queensland for the treatment of alcoholism and my life since then has taken a trajectory from “good” to “even better”.

It’s unbelievable to say the least, but I had to choose a total change of life really. Create a vision of where I want to be and then act every day like I already have it. I am amazed at how quickly those dreams come true amid all the trials and tribulations as such, life is great and getting better.

I believe I’m an intelligent man. Parts of rehab were boring for me after a couple of weeks, as the penny dropped quickly on an intellectual side.

Where rehab became really exciting and a paramount part of my life was when I not only intellectually got what was being said, but also an emotional and spiritual experience in recovery.

After I finished at Hader Clinic Queensland, my wife left me, which I had pretty much already knew was on the cards.

She used a lot of the business’s money for personal use and didn’t pay business debts, now I have been left with a huge tax bill – so, yes, that has been a big trial, but even that can’t stop me now.

By having a better attitude, a growing motivation, bigger dreams and a trust in my Higher Power a better life is inevitable.

I believed in the Law Of Attraction.

I believe that my state of joy as the greatest achievement of success.

And while the attainment of money and wonderful possessions certainly were a big part of my vision and does enhance your state of joy, the achievement of a good-feeling physical body is by far the greatest factor for maintaining a continuing state of joy and Well-Being.

Every part of your life is experienced through the perspective of your physical body, and when you feel good, everything you see looks better.

Certainly, it is possible to maintain a good attitude even when your physical body is diminished in some way, but a good feeling body is a powerful basis for an ongoing good attitude.

And so, it’s not surprising that since the way you feel affects your thoughts and attitudes about things, and since your thoughts and attitudes equal your point of attraction, and your point of attraction equals the way your life continues to play out, there are few things of greater value than the achievement of a good feeling body as a starting point.

I set goals and state those goals every day to make keep my mind continually aware of where I want to go, and then subconsciously I attract those things. This has been my experience in the past and it is working for me again in my sober life.

I attracted despair and trouble in my drunken days and I now know that when I was trying to run a business as a practicing alcoholic, I missed a lot and that was losing money.

I don’t totally understand the supernatural side of things but since removing alcohol from my life and being totally focused, my employees are better, more committed and respectful, whereas before… the then employees were crap (my fault).

I get very excited when I get pulled up by the police now for RBT (Random Breath Testing). I’ve managed to have eight of these in the last couple of months. I just love them asking me, “when did you have your last drink?”  I reply, “nearly twelve months now!”  How good is that? I love my sober life.

When I attended the Hader Clinic Queensland, I met Tammy.

At the time the last thing I was looking for was a relationship, so even though we got on well I didn’t think she was for me.

We built a rapport, over early morning coffees as we would discuss life, the program and have general chit chat.

Two people supporting each other whilst in rehab continued via phone for a few months afterwards.

It’s been advised that you shouldn’t have a relationship for at least twelve months after rehab. Although I believe this to be very sound advice, Tammy and I have been through the same experience.

Our continued communication led me to venture up her way to see her.

We went to a lot of meetings together and then she travelled down my way, where we attended many more meetings together.

Basically, from there, one thing led to another and we now have a beautiful relationship.

Going through rehabilitation and following the program along with hearing each other share, we have communicated to each other all fears, faults, flaws, concerns and past life, which essentially produced a completely honest and transparent relationship.

Relationships can be hard to build, for example, it’s hard to deal with issues in relationships when either or both of you have underlying problems.  We do understand that the other can have a different opinion based on our own perceptions (beliefs) created by our past life and experiences.

That works for us.

Because of our experience in the Hader Clinic Queensland program, Tammy and I can laugh about problems that come up from time to time and work out whether it’s a “you” (“me”) or “us” issue.

I’m old school, “a man’s man” as it were – and I was brought up by my father telling me that, “big boys don’t cry and you’re a wimp if you do”.

Due to that and trying to be tough, I have rarely cried (and wouldn’t let anyone see if I did), even when I had an accident where I nearly completely severed my left arm, I did not cry.

I’ve since learned that big boys do cry and that’s perfectly ok and healing.

I now allow myself to “express my feelings” especially with Tammy and I love her immensely.

We do read the “Just for Today” and “Daily Reflection” almost every day.

We also have bought and read many other self-help books and literature that better and improve our thinking and way of life.

Unfortunately, we can’t get to as many meetings as we’d like due to our work, and I’m also dealing with a property settlement etc with my ex-wife, which has been a bit of a challenge.

Tammy and I now live and work together in my business. She works in the office and is so honest and dedicated in making things work for the business. She’s handling huge sums of money and I find her completely trustworthy because our relationship is built on trust and honesty.

Overall, I’m excited about my new life, which seems to just keep getting better.

Amid the occasional times of stress, I honestly don’t think about drinking anymore because life is still and (I believe) will keep moving onwards and upwards.

To even think of going back to my old life would be insane.

I’ve been back to the Hader Clinic Queensland three or four times to attend the Sunday meetings.

I’m also keen to go back on or around my twelve-month anniversary.

Hopefully my life may encourage the people there that I don’t know.

I want to give them hope in the fact that a full recovery from addiction is not only possible but to give a testimony of how I did it and the benefits that come from that.

Change your mind (thinking) change your life. I have had so much success at this, that I would love to teach others how I did it.

If I had any “advice” to share for those who may be contemplating rehab, it would be along these lines…

You need to make the decision at rehab, or at least immediately after you come out that a sober/clean life is what you want.

Set your goals – in business, life or otherwise.

In my pre drinking, I started with nothing – my parents were not very wealthy, so I did it on my own. I went about life setting my visions and goals – I bought my first business at 18.  I have had several businesses since and bar a couple of mistakes (learning experiences) I’ve done quite well by setting goals and going for it.

My goals now, cover all five areas of life… spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional and financial.

Can’t wait to see where this takes me – I’m excited.

I know it sounds cliché but living sober/clean must become a way of life from the get go.

My path back to success all started with the Hader Clinic Queensland and my immediate family – my sisters and my niece. They’re the ones who got me there and I’m so grateful for them.

I can attribute finding success in love, life and my work to my recovered lifestyle – which all started in my rehab journey at the Hader Clinic Queensland.