The Stages of Recovery Story
A message from the President:
Recovery is a miracle for anyone who experiences it. This is true no matter where you come from and no matter who you are. I am happy to say that I have been lucky enough to experience it and to begin to know the joys and opportunities that it provides. It is from this joy that the Stages program began to take shape. Nothing makes me more excited than to think about the possibility of other young people having what was given to me when I first got into recovery.
I am not unlike the hundreds of other young men I have met since I got sober. Most of their stories read a lot like mine. I started my career with alcohol and drugs in my early teens. It progressed quickly and I got into some trouble with the law. Instead of jail, I was fortunate enough to get treatment. I grabbed on with both hands and have never looked back.
Unfortunately, simply getting into recovery did not solve all of my problems. There was still the fact that I had dropped out of high school. I didn't have a job history and my lack of education couldn't get me the job that I wanted or put me in a place where I could achieve my dreams. For a long time in early recovery, I thought my goals and ambitions were unachievable and that I would have to settle for less than what I had wanted before addiction took over my life.
I know now that nothing could be farther from the truth. I am a college graduate, a business owner, and a proud member of a recovery community. From my experiences in recovery, I have come to realize that the lives of all people have enormous potential. Sometimes, however, we need a little help in finding it and a little guidance in learning how to use our potential to benefit others.
STAGES is a program to help young people in recovery find their potential that was born out of the experiences of many recovering individuals, some who are named here and some who are not. I hope that STAGES can help people find their way, just as I have searched and found mine.
Stephen Medley
President, Stages of Recovery, Inc.
