We all deserve a life WORTH living.
Hello My Beautiful Friends,
My name is Mike and I am an ADDICT.
What a wonderful journey it has been. I won’t bore you with the grungy details of what it was like and the chaotic havoc I created in my life through addiction. I am sure you all have a story with its own messy path. What I can share with you is that Cedars was where things started to change. It was there in the intake office, where for the first time I was pestered, by the Lovely Ethan M, into stating why I was there. My first answer might have been…I think I have a problem, my second answer might have been well….the law has led me here (breaking of the laws is more precise), I think my third answer was my family needs this. Thankfully he persisted. He asked again…no really Mike why are you here? And I remember saying…I don’t know man…because I AM AN ADDICT. How much of that recollection is true/accurate I don’t really know lol. But what is true is how I felt when those words came out of my mouth. RELIEF! TEARS! RELIEF! I felt like I could breathe again. It had been so long since I could take an uninhibited deep breath. Too long. That was my first day in recovery. The rest of the day is a blur. I remember a few faces and the trepidation I felt being in that log looking home. Piled into a room with three others. Lol. I remember thinking all this money and I GOTTA SHARE A ROOM YOU GOTTA BE F’N’ KIDDING ME…LOL.
Just as the rest of the day was a blur, so has the past 9 years. It’s gone by so fast. I remember leaving treatment wondering if I could successfully use before I got to my recovery house. I even had a voice that questioned if I could successfully use and pass a urine screen - THANKFULLY my Higher Power just guided me to the house. Where my journey in recovery would start to build foundation in community. It was where I began taking advice on how little I really knew. It was where I began to take responsibility for my recovery and my life. It was where I lived and rallied with peers to be able to attend over 200 meetings those first 90 days out. It was where I did the steps. It was a safe place for me to land.
My time at the recovery house was probably the toughest part of my journey but it was also where a lot of my growth happened. I remember running out of money and being asked to move to my mom’s house. The rent would be free, the food would be free as would the insanity. I was too fresh in my recovery to move back to my hometown where so much self-destruction took place. However with no viable option it looked likely that my journey would lead home. I remember sharing with my sponsor, my support network, my homegroup and in other meetings of the fear I had of moving home. I remember also sharing that I thought that maybe God really wanted me to move home to be closer to my family and “friends.” That was not what God wanted. What God wanted from me during that time was to ask for help. My sharing was how I asked for help at that time. And like every other time I have asked for help since…God spoke through my peers and recovery family. Within days I was offered free room and board and a stipend to run the recovery house I was living in. A few days later, my roommate from Cedars offered me a job doing advertising sales. Something I had never done but was actually pretty decent at. I was able to go on one trip with Greg and make enough money to get me through the next few months! So began the next phase of my journey.
Over then next 4 months I was able to complete the steps and start being of service. These two things have been the anchor of my recovery. Working on myself through the steps has helped me become a more balanced man that tries hard to respond and not react to people, places and things. However, to be transparent that doesn’t always work out - AND THAT’S OK! It really is progress not perfection. I am proud of who I am and have worked hard to become this man. Since I dove into my recovery my emotional and financial stability have become integral to my recovery. I have become a person that can be counted on who shows up authentically for all those I love and all those that cross my path. It has been an amazing journey. I have had the opportunity to be a social worker (without a social work degree), an employment counsellor, a teacher and now a founder of my own non-profit organization. As my recovery grows so does my confidence and self awareness.
This intensive self reflection and hard work has opened so many doors. The greatest door it has opened, however is the one to self acceptance. I can accurately acknowledge who I am as a person. This self realization has given me the opportunity to follow my dreams and passions! Last year I was able to start my own non profit: The ReWired Recovery Foundation! A foundation which raises awareness, provides education and funds treatment for individuals who otherwise not be able to access these critical supports.
There used to be a time in my life, in addiction, when I would have great ideas and thoughts of what I wanted to do and they would remain just that thoughts. In recovery I have been given the courage to act out on my ideas. In 2022, I came up with the idea of celebrating recovery in an outdoor comedy and music festival called: Soberest! We hosted the event here in Victoria that had 9 bands and 10 comedians perform in front of a sold-out crowd! It was so incredible to see my community come together in support of ReWired. Through hard work and unity the event was a success. We were able to raise over $272,000 in treatment, counselling, recovery coaching, and cash! And we were able to celebrate and have fun in recovery! This past July, we took our learnings and put it to work again. Since the inception of ReWired, we have been able to send more than ____ people to treatment, recovery housing and counselling. It is beyond exciting to watch this movement grow – giving others the opportunity to step into who they were always meant to be. Just like me and so many others I’ve got to know over the past decade. I have no doubt, that together we will be able to continue to do good work in our community. It may be hard, but it is most certainly worth it.
As I continue to do the work, to discover who I am and what I like. Each day, each month, and each year a little more is revealed. My Higher Power continues to reveal more when he thinks I am ready not when I think I am ready. That has been tough at times, but it has also been something beautiful I can reflect on. That reflection gives me hope. Seeing the growth in myself and others gives me hope…that I too deserve to recover. That I deserve a life worth living. We all deserve a life worth living.
Mike Manhas, Cedars Alumni
Founder of Rewired Recovery Foundation
mike@rewiredrecoveryfoundation.org
