In today’s fast paced world of instant gratification taking the time to do something thoroughly and successfully to its completion is sometimes overlooked. We all tend to want what we want right now, this very minute and feel that waiting should be avoided at all costs. This is why so many find themselves in short-term drug rehab programs that do little more that put a Band-Aid on a wound that needs much tender care and attention.
Sunshine Summit Lodge is a long-term drug rehab program different from any you have encountered before. Their principles are rooted in doing their very best at helping their clients get off drugs. While their methods are not the quickest or easiest they have a proven success record that spans decades. They detoxify their clients and educate them as though they are students; teaching them life skills, communication skills, personal values and integrity and how to confront problems in a direct and effective manner.
Just as program participant did not become a drug addict or alcoholic overnight, their recovery will not happen in a matter of days or even a month. True addiction rehabilitation takes time and there is no exact formula for how long each individual will need to find their sobriety. Because of this fact Sunshine Summit Lodge has designed their program with a time variable format.
While the majority of their client’s complete the Sunshine Summit Lodge drug rehabilitation program in three to five months some need to stay longer. This is not an issue at Sunshine Summit Lodge because they are given the time they need to fully acquire and take in all the information and lessons the program has to teach them. Because their program is not for profit, Sunshine Summit Lodge can operate their rehab in the way they see most beneficial to their clients. This ensures they are providing their clients with the best rehabilitation methods available and not cutting corners in order to be “cost effective”.
When I think about addiction rehabilitation i think about how important it is to put forth the time and effort to achieve the goal of being drug-free. I had spent so many years doing drugs and turning myself into an addict even though that wasn’t my intentional goal. So when it came time for me to get clean I thought of it in a sense that I was going to have to put in as much time and effort getting clean and rehabilitating myself as I did doing drugs and living that druggie lifestyle. I made an investment in my recovery. It wasn’t just time but that did help out. Spending 3 months at Sunshine Summit Lodge getting my life in order was a down-payment on the rest of my years on Earth. The way i see it now, that was the best thing I have ever done because I am drug free and I plan on being that way for as long as I live. I have worked too hard to get where I am at today and I don’t want to lose it. Now instead of romanticizing drug use, I think about my future and all the possibilities that lie ahead of me because of my freedom from addiction.
I was really impressed with the program at Sunshine Summit Lodge because it wasn’t one of those trivial 30-day programs. The average program there took about 3 months while I was there. My own program took closer to four months. When I first arrived there I had a mindset that I was just going to do it as fast as I could so that I could get back to my “real” life. But I was sadly mistaken in the first place because I had no real life to go back to. The life I had left at home when I went to Sunshine Summit Lodge was in shambles. I wouldn’t even call it a life worth living because it was sad and pathetic. But going through the program at Sunshine Summit Lodge helped me realize a few things. First, that everything in life is much better and much easier when I take my time, examine my options and make the best decisions based on how that decision is going to affect all aspects of my life. Second, I realized that when I rush through things, whether it be my everyday affairs or whatever it may be, I disable myself from making positive choices and creating lasting memories. Lastly, nothing in life comes free and easy and if it does it isn’t worth it. The staff and the program at Sunshine Summit Lodge really helped me get my priorities straight and stop my attitude of wanting everything and wanting it now. My life today, after the program, is much more wholesome and I appreciate everything that I have today. Always remember, it takes as long as it takes and when you get to the other side of what you are trying to accomplish, your efforts and hard work is much more appreciated and admired.
“I was a wreck before I came to Sunshine Summit Lodge and my life was a complete mess. I had no focus in life. I was just living day by day doing whatever I had to do to get drugs. I would steal, lie, cheat, and manipulate my family on a daily basis. Eventually I lost the will to live and really didn’t care if I lived another day and I would go to bed every night hoping that I wouldn’t wake up the next day. Luckily for me I had a family that cared about me and got me here to Narconon Sunshine Summit Lodge. Now I am a whole new person – my life has meaning again, I have a my health, I am holding down a full-time job, and I have regained the trust of my family which means the world to me. Sunshine Summit Lodge has done much more than just get me off drugs, they have given me a chance to live the life I have always wanted”
S.H.