Hi my name is Lincoln Lewis and I am a recovering addict who struggles with drug addiction.
I grew up without my father as he passed away when I was 8 years old. Mother got diagnosed with cancer shortly after my father’s death. So straight away I can tell you that I did not have the easiest teenage years. I was motivated to strive academically by the difficult situation at home. At the age of 15 I started working on weekends to help my mother at home with necessities and the odd things here and there. The first time I used was at my Matric farewell, everyone else was doing it, so why not, right? “At least that’s what I told myself “. Using became a hobby for me as I felt like I was doing it for fun, not realizing the depth of the hole I was digging for myself.
My addiction to cat started off as an evening of experimentation, a moment of curiosity, but quickly grew to become a constant pass time where I would use for comfort, to forget about the hurt I felt at home, to fit in and belong somewhere. I felt lonely all the time and needed something to make me feel wanted and “one of the guys”. I became known for using and many people associated me with drugs, parties, late nights and early mornings although at home I was still the apple of my mother’s eye as well as the breadwinner in the house. My mother was unable to work to support us with her illness worsening. The responsibilities became too much too much for me to bear , being so young and having a household to take care of, so many mouths to feed , so I used drugs as a way to forget. I used to try and feel normal like everything was fine, but it wasn’t. The more my Mothers condition worsened the deeper my addiction seemed to get. It eventually got so bad that I started selling to earn extra income and better support my habit. This was very dangerous and irresponsible of me, not to mention in considerate. To make matters worse I sold from my mother’s house, often while she was lying sick in her bed. The more drugs I sold, the deeper my addiction grew and the harder it became to lead a normal life. I lead a double life.
My mother’s struggle with cancer ended in 2009 after fighting long and hard to stay alive. I admired her strength through everything she went through, she still hoped that she would be able to continue raising her children into adulthood, I have 2 older brothers and 2 younger ones. The youngest was 6 at the time and the other 18 however God had other plans my mother. This left my brothers and me to fend for ourselves. As you can imagine 4 boys living alone with no guidance or support, things went from bad to chaotic. My responsibilities at home grew more and more and so did my addiction. I had no balance anymore and soon it became a daily thing, using on my own and partying nonstop whenever I could.
At this time, which I’m sure many of you could relate to, I felt that I could plan on how I’m going to use and “control” my addiction, plan on how I ”think” I am going to lead a normal life and still use ,but we all know this is not possible.
I would always feel the need to portray to the world how hardworking I am and that I was fine and nothing was wrong. This pretense added so much more pressure on me and I was slowly but surely deteriorating.
My relationship with God was actually nonexistent it purely consisted of me going to church when I was not tired, hung over or depressed.
Eventually I hit my rock bottom where I felt like filth because my brothers whom I was guardian over, were forced to go to bed hungry because I would much rather use the little money I had to buy drugs instead of taking care of them .My recovery journey began when I went to Wedge Gardens in-house treatment center in early 2013, I stayed there for 3 months .Unfortunately once I returned home my sobriety did not last longer than a week. I learnt about Mighty Wings while in a relationship with my then Girlfriend, now wife and mother of my beautiful baby girl.
Personally, for me being an In-patient at a rehab center didn’t work for me as I viewed it as being locked in your misery , depression and failures whereas being in an outpatient programme such as Mighty Wings gave me the opportunity to face my fears head on and bring out a much more effective and life altering change in me.
Throughout my stay at Mighty Wings my relationship with God and my faith in him has grown tremendously to an extent that I have come to realize that I am nothing without him. He is my Lord, My savior and help in time of need.
I really enjoyed working the Gap Programme. It thought me to control my ability to identify and label my emotions and situations, instead of being pretentious. As an addict I did not know how to cope with Stress, emotions and negative thoughts but with the help of the GAP programme I have learnt many different ways to deal with what goes on in my head. My step 4 aided deep healing in my life as it allowed me to put all those I’ve hurt and who have hurt me behind me and allow God to be in control of my life.
Since being in recovery and having GOD back in my life I have become a much more approachable, trustworthy and reliable person. To me, I feel as though I now have a presence again when entering a room. I am no longer just a crack in the wall – Literally.
None of this would have been possible without Jesus Christ our Lord and savior right beside me. I don’t think that any of us would have made it through if it wasn’t for The Lord by our sides. For that, I give my life to the glory of his name.
John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son , that who so ever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life .
Being a recovering addict at Mighty Wings adds such value and meaning to my life. I now walk in the light with renewed hope to live and to dream. I have now realized that I have a real calling to help others where I can and share of my own life. There is such fulfilment in listening and sharing with others.
To the new comer, welcome this is the first step to the beginning of the rest of your life.
I grew up without my father as he passed away when I was 8 years old. Mother got diagnosed with cancer shortly after my father’s death. So straight away I can tell you that I did not have the easiest teenage years. I was motivated to strive academically by the difficult situation at home. At the age of 15 I started working on weekends to help my mother at home with necessities and the odd things here and there. The first time I used was at my Matric farewell, everyone else was doing it, so why not, right? “At least that’s what I told myself “. Using became a hobby for me as I felt like I was doing it for fun, not realizing the depth of the hole I was digging for myself.
My addiction to cat started off as an evening of experimentation, a moment of curiosity, but quickly grew to become a constant pass time where I would use for comfort, to forget about the hurt I felt at home, to fit in and belong somewhere. I felt lonely all the time and needed something to make me feel wanted and “one of the guys”. I became known for using and many people associated me with drugs, parties, late nights and early mornings although at home I was still the apple of my mother’s eye as well as the breadwinner in the house. My mother was unable to work to support us with her illness worsening. The responsibilities became too much too much for me to bear , being so young and having a household to take care of, so many mouths to feed , so I used drugs as a way to forget. I used to try and feel normal like everything was fine, but it wasn’t. The more my Mothers condition worsened the deeper my addiction seemed to get. It eventually got so bad that I started selling to earn extra income and better support my habit. This was very dangerous and irresponsible of me, not to mention in considerate. To make matters worse I sold from my mother’s house, often while she was lying sick in her bed. The more drugs I sold, the deeper my addiction grew and the harder it became to lead a normal life. I lead a double life.
My mother’s struggle with cancer ended in 2009 after fighting long and hard to stay alive. I admired her strength through everything she went through, she still hoped that she would be able to continue raising her children into adulthood, I have 2 older brothers and 2 younger ones. The youngest was 6 at the time and the other 18 however God had other plans my mother. This left my brothers and me to fend for ourselves. As you can imagine 4 boys living alone with no guidance or support, things went from bad to chaotic. My responsibilities at home grew more and more and so did my addiction. I had no balance anymore and soon it became a daily thing, using on my own and partying nonstop whenever I could.
At this time, which I’m sure many of you could relate to, I felt that I could plan on how I’m going to use and “control” my addiction, plan on how I ”think” I am going to lead a normal life and still use ,but we all know this is not possible.
I would always feel the need to portray to the world how hardworking I am and that I was fine and nothing was wrong. This pretense added so much more pressure on me and I was slowly but surely deteriorating.
My relationship with God was actually nonexistent it purely consisted of me going to church when I was not tired, hung over or depressed.
Eventually I hit my rock bottom where I felt like filth because my brothers whom I was guardian over, were forced to go to bed hungry because I would much rather use the little money I had to buy drugs instead of taking care of them .My recovery journey began when I went to Wedge Gardens in-house treatment center in early 2013, I stayed there for 3 months .Unfortunately once I returned home my sobriety did not last longer than a week. I learnt about Mighty Wings while in a relationship with my then Girlfriend, now wife and mother of my beautiful baby girl.
Personally, for me being an In-patient at a rehab center didn’t work for me as I viewed it as being locked in your misery , depression and failures whereas being in an outpatient programme such as Mighty Wings gave me the opportunity to face my fears head on and bring out a much more effective and life altering change in me.
Throughout my stay at Mighty Wings my relationship with God and my faith in him has grown tremendously to an extent that I have come to realize that I am nothing without him. He is my Lord, My savior and help in time of need.
I really enjoyed working the Gap Programme. It thought me to control my ability to identify and label my emotions and situations, instead of being pretentious. As an addict I did not know how to cope with Stress, emotions and negative thoughts but with the help of the GAP programme I have learnt many different ways to deal with what goes on in my head. My step 4 aided deep healing in my life as it allowed me to put all those I’ve hurt and who have hurt me behind me and allow God to be in control of my life.
Since being in recovery and having GOD back in my life I have become a much more approachable, trustworthy and reliable person. To me, I feel as though I now have a presence again when entering a room. I am no longer just a crack in the wall – Literally.
None of this would have been possible without Jesus Christ our Lord and savior right beside me. I don’t think that any of us would have made it through if it wasn’t for The Lord by our sides. For that, I give my life to the glory of his name.
John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son , that who so ever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life .
Being a recovering addict at Mighty Wings adds such value and meaning to my life. I now walk in the light with renewed hope to live and to dream. I have now realized that I have a real calling to help others where I can and share of my own life. There is such fulfilment in listening and sharing with others.
To the new comer, welcome this is the first step to the beginning of the rest of your life.