My name's Brenton, and I am an addict. Steps Together asked me to record this video because they knew that it was my sobriety birthday coming up.
I just recently celebrated four years clean and sober. So, while Steps Together has asked me to record this, the main purpose of this video is just to try and help someone, if someone sees this online, and to tell people that recovery is 100% possible.
I came into Bank House seven years ago, and I was a properly broken human being. I've been to two other rehabs previously, both for 30-day periods.
I can remember coming in; I couldn't walk to my own room without any assistance. I've been to hospital detoxes about five times. I'd spend my mornings drinking immediately, because I was just about to go into an alcoholic seizure after not drinking for about four hours. And if I'm being honest, I don't think I have long left in this world.
After Bank House, I did actually go to Steps Together at their secondary facility, Elizabeth House, which really, really did make a difference. I can remember thinking at the time, 90 days, three months. So I spent two months at Elizabeth House - it’s such a long time. And I couldn't quite comprehend. I kept thinking, I'll just do another 30 days in rehab, and I'll be okay. It'll be different this time, and it just wasn't.
What I've done for my sobriety since then is become part of a 12-step fellowship. I've been through the 12 steps. I’ve got a sponsor; I sponsor people, and I do service for that fellowship. And to be honest, in those four years, going through the 12 steps, which didn't make any sense to me when I first started, I couldn't comprehend a Higher Power. If it helps anyone, I am four years in, and I still couldn't describe to you [definitively] what my Higher Power is, and that's all right because it's a programme of faith.
So, if you're listening to this, recovery is 100% possible. The way I've got sober and the way I stay sober is 3 to 12 steps, continuing that journey after my time at Steps Together, and life today is beautiful.
Thank you all for listening, and I really, really hope... if you're in a darker place, like I was, this can just offer you a little bit of hope, because, as I said, at the beginning, it is 100% possible.
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