- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Friends & Family
submitted by: Susanne Johnson
Growing up, Duncan had a pretty nice life. He came from a wealthy family in Southern California. His passion was sailing and during high school and college years he had a dream of exchanging his 40 ft. yacht for a bigger boat and sailing around the world. Most of his friends were older than him, living the good life, spending money. They didn’t have to worry about much.
During the time of the west coast wealth and hippie years drugs were readily available and socially accepted. He tried some LSD and other drugs starting at the age of 15. He never had a real taste for alcohol, but at this time all of his friends were doing drugs. Money was spent in astronomical amounts in this very rich area he lived in and he took part in the drug use. Drinking played a huge role in this world and since he wanted to be part of it, he engaged in that as well. He recognized that it became a problem very early on, at about age 22 or 23, but it seemed to be normal to him as being part of the “fun group”, where all people were at a similar level. It wasn’t his downfall yet, he still pursued his goals to open a maritime company, got commercial vessels and did what it takes to work his way up to get all licenses needed.
But by time he was around 30 years old he had already lost two marriages as a consequence of his addiction and his lifestyle. His life had a lot of ups and downs. He was going through all the money he made so quickly it was unbelievable, but because he was an entrepreneur he always fell back on his feet and managed a new start. His profession as a mariner and ship captain and his profound knowledge about ships led him to work on huge vessels and own his own companies as well, at some point even smuggling drugs. He describes those times today as times that he had had no idea how to differ right from wrong.
During all of his years of addiction, Duncan always returned to several months of sobriety at a time, when he worked on a ship. He was a reliable mariner during those times, but once he got back home he always fell into the same addiction disease again. Looking back, he says that everything was all black and white at those times– no gray. Being on a ship was, for him, like being in a rehab. It was the much needed sobriety to keep him alive.
In the early 1990’s he went to a treatment center one time. He was impressed and it ignited his entrepreneurship into the direction of the treatment industry. He opened the doors to his own recovery center about 12 years ago and had many successful businesses in the field since. It became his new life and he loves to help others to find recovery. For Duncan, the most important way to help others is to share his own experience, strength and hope.
In his facility he doesn’t like to push people into a certain direction of, for example, attending meetings. He likes to explain how it helps him and let people find their own way. Duncan still attends 12-step meetings and often quotes from the big book. At his facility, he likes to assist people in finding their passion and empower each person to live his or her passion. Duncan believes each individual should find his or her own goals and directions and not have somebody tell them which way to go.
According to Duncan, Southern California does not have too much of a stigma problem with substance use disorders. It is socially fully accepted to be in recovery at most places and it does not create hurdles against career opportunities or further life chances. Duncan believes that people even say that they are in recovery even they are not.
Duncan also supports the idea of living active and healthy in recovery. All clients that live at his facility have a gym membership and do various activities on regular basis outside of the facility. A healthy nutrition plan is also important as part of a good recovery from substance use disorders to have a balanced life.
Duncan is 14 years in recovery today and very happy about his decision. He has had four marriages and his youngest son is 16 years old. Since he has still never sailed around the world, Duncan hopes that his son will do this with him one day. It is still his dream to be fulfilled.