WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.000
Support for the following podcast is provided
by the user experience specialist at Johnson Taylor.
2
00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:14.359
More information follows this episode What if
what you thought was rock bottom was
3
00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:19.480
really just the start of something more. I'm Joe Taylor Junior. This is
4
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:31.039
Search and Replace. Adam Vibe Gunton
considered himself a high achieving sales professional.
5
00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:35.479
He enjoyed a flexible schedule, lived
in a big house just minutes from the
6
00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:39.759
beach. He loved his job,
and his bosses showered him with support.
7
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.679
There's just one thing nobody knew about
Adam's life at the time. He was
8
00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:51.719
addicted to heroin. Addiction is a
really progressive disease, and it happened so
9
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.560
quickly. Sometimes you don't even realize
that you're addicted, even if you're using
10
00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.679
the hardest drugs out there. I
was being coached by some of the world
11
00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:07.519
renowned leaders while I was sticking a
needle in my arm. I was making
12
00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.319
six figures, you know, doing
sales, going door to door and working
13
00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.879
like twenty or twenty five hours a
week, being coached by these incredible and
14
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:23.560
incredible people that weren't able to get
me sober, that weren't able to coach
15
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:30.480
my way into recovery. The scary
thing is that even with these incredibly powerful
16
00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:36.280
people coaching me on a weekly basis, my disease continued to progress, and
17
00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.799
it was almost as if it was
overnight. I went from a twenty four
18
00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:48.719
hundred square foot ranch house with two
cars in a motorcycle in California to homeless
19
00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.319
and eighty six from a homeless shelter. Because that actually was in less than
20
00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.799
nine months. I went from this
real nice place, girlfriend dog to nothing
21
00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.680
and no one around me. Adam
wrote a book about his experience in which
22
00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.360
he describes what it really took for
him to get sober. You hear a
23
00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:15.000
lot in America that you need to
let the addict hit rock bottom, But
24
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:17.280
rock bottom is a myth. I
thought that it was rock bottom when I
25
00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:23.199
lost that ranch house in California,
and then I thought it was rock bottom
26
00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.319
when I was looking around the homeless
shelter at all the other homeless people,
27
00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.599
or we're in a room with fifty
of us there on cots, So I
28
00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.439
thought that was rock bottom. And
at the end I was one hundred and
29
00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.719
forty eight pounds and I'm two fifteen
to twenty right now. The rock bottom
30
00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:40.840
is you just have to stop digging. And this is for people, whether
31
00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:46.680
you have struggled or are struggling with
addiction, or if you struggle with depression
32
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.840
or anxiety, or you know,
any of these things that take people out.
33
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.120
This moment right now can be that
rock bottom. I wanted to die,
34
00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.919
but I couldn't. And when I
was at the end, I was
35
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:04.719
so willing to give up everything about
myself. That's when I was finally able
36
00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:09.199
to find that willingness to do whatever
it took. I thought to that point
37
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.560
that I was doing whatever it took. I thought that going to meetings was
38
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.199
enough. I thought that going to
church was enough. But everything was so
39
00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.919
tightly in my grasp for my plans
on how I was going to stop using.
40
00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:25.840
And as soon as I got to
the point where I understood that,
41
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.479
that's when I actually had this seed
of hope for something greater than myself to
42
00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.919
actually come in and help me.
Adam describes a moment in the first few
43
00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:42.319
days after getting clean when he could
truly visualize a life of sobriety. On
44
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.000
day five clean and sober, I
was at International House of Pancakes with my
45
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:50.800
best friend Brandon. I was eating
French toast and I got a text message
46
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.800
on my phone from my dope dealer. He's like, hey, bro,
47
00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.120
I just got some new stuff.
It's fire. I'll give you free twenty
48
00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.439
to try out. And right when
I read that text message, something came
49
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.960
in through the top of my head
all the way through my body. My
50
00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:03.159
toes were tingling, my fingers were
tingling. I lost my peripheral vision.
51
00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.879
All I could see was the phone, and then my thumbs just started texting
52
00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:08.840
back and it was in like King
James. It was like, ye shaw,
53
00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:11.520
not text me again, thou has
texted me for the last time.
54
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.159
And then at the end of the
text message, I feel that thing leave
55
00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:15.639
me, like go up through my
head. I was like, what the
56
00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:16.360
heck. I was like, dude, that was not me. I pushed
57
00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.879
send and I'm putting it in my
pocket. The entire restaurant had completely disappeared.
58
00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:23.199
I immediately knew what was happening.
I said, thank you God,
59
00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:28.000
thank you cud Adam also faced a
hard realization about the power of faith and
60
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.680
the steps he'd still have to take
on his own. I believe that God
61
00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.879
has the power to miraculously heal people
instantly didn't happen for me. I was
62
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:41.279
really, really sick. I was
shaking in withdraw and what I learned in
63
00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.079
this period is that even though God
is always with me, there's a lot
64
00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.480
of work that I have to do. So for the next twenty days,
65
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:53.800
I am withdrawing, I'm sick,
I'm craving. The only relief I got
66
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.839
was through the twelve step work.
I had a sponsor that came and picked
67
00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.920
me up every morning at six thirty
am in his nineteen eighty three mailman Jeep,
68
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.360
and we would do the work.
Then on day twenty five he came
69
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.199
and picked me up. We went
to do my fifth step, which is
70
00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:11.600
where you kind of confess everything to
somebody, to another human being in God
71
00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:15.560
and be yourself. Nothing miraculously happened. Next morning on day twenty six,
72
00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:17.920
I'm looking at this beautiful sunrise to
the right of me, and I have
73
00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.120
a spiritual awakening that for the first
time since I was twelve years old,
74
00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.759
I had no desire to drink or
use. In that moment, when I
75
00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:30.439
actually felt that change, I knew
that it was my purpose to help others
76
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.519
find that. Adam says that his
experience taught him to embrace his imperfections and
77
00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.680
to put his trust in a bigger
plan. It's not about thinking your way
78
00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:44.399
out of anything. It's not about
knowing your way out of anything. A
79
00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.600
lot of people know what they have
to do, but they just don't.
80
00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:53.240
Doesn't matter who you are, what
you believe about yourself. You are here
81
00:05:53.959 --> 00:06:02.800
for a bigger reason than yourself,
period and one you've experienced somebody's life changing
82
00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:10.240
in front of you, where a
light turns on and you watch that happen,
83
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:16.519
There's no greater dope. There is
nothing better than watching someone in front
84
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.600
of you have the same experience I
had on day twenty six. My life
85
00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.720
is a spiritual experience. Now I'm
not pretending like I am doing it perfectly
86
00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:30.040
in any way, shape or form
right, but having that thought process about
87
00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:34.079
wanting to continue to progress, it's
so freeing. You know, I'm able
88
00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:39.600
to just do one day at a
time, do the best I can today,
89
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:44.199
and then the outcomes are what the
outcomes are. That's author and speaker
90
00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:47.079
Adam Vibe Gunting. We've got links
to Adam's work in our show notes and
91
00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:53.040
on our website at search and Replace
dot Shall. Search and Replace was produced
92
00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.600
by Nicole Hubbard with support from Connie
Evans, The Baby Lowman, April Smith,
93
00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.920
the Podcast Taxi executive producer Taylor.
Our theme music was composed by Alex
94
00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:08.120
Rafeire. I'm Joe Taylor Jr.
This has been a podcast Taxi Radio production
95
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:15.199
Support for Surge and Replace is provided
by Johnson Taylor User Experience Specialists serving media
96
00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:19.839
and technology companies that want their websites
to work. Learn more about how top
97
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:28.759
performing businesses eliminate barriers between customers and
their goals at www dot Make the website
98
00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.800
work for me dot com
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.000
Support for the following podcast is provided
by the user experience specialist at Johnson Taylor.
2
00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:14.359
More information follows this episode What if
what you thought was rock bottom was
3
00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:19.480
really just the start of something more. I'm Joe Taylor Junior. This is
4
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:31.039
Search and Replace. Adam Vibe Gunton
considered himself a high achieving sales professional.
5
00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:35.479
He enjoyed a flexible schedule, lived
in a big house just minutes from the
6
00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:39.759
beach. He loved his job,
and his bosses showered him with support.
7
00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:45.679
There's just one thing nobody knew about
Adam's life at the time. He was
8
00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:51.719
addicted to heroin. Addiction is a
really progressive disease, and it happened so
9
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.560
quickly. Sometimes you don't even realize
that you're addicted, even if you're using
10
00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.679
the hardest drugs out there. I
was being coached by some of the world
11
00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:07.519
renowned leaders while I was sticking a
needle in my arm. I was making
12
00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.319
six figures, you know, doing
sales, going door to door and working
13
00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.879
like twenty or twenty five hours a
week, being coached by these incredible and
14
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:23.560
incredible people that weren't able to get
me sober, that weren't able to coach
15
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:30.480
my way into recovery. The scary
thing is that even with these incredibly powerful
16
00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:36.280
people coaching me on a weekly basis, my disease continued to progress, and
17
00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.799
it was almost as if it was
overnight. I went from a twenty four
18
00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:48.719
hundred square foot ranch house with two
cars in a motorcycle in California to homeless
19
00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.319
and eighty six from a homeless shelter. Because that actually was in less than
20
00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.799
nine months. I went from this
real nice place, girlfriend dog to nothing
21
00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.680
and no one around me. Adam
wrote a book about his experience in which
22
00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.360
he describes what it really took for
him to get sober. You hear a
23
00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:15.000
lot in America that you need to
let the addict hit rock bottom, But
24
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:17.280
rock bottom is a myth. I
thought that it was rock bottom when I
25
00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:23.199
lost that ranch house in California,
and then I thought it was rock bottom
26
00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.319
when I was looking around the homeless
shelter at all the other homeless people,
27
00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.599
or we're in a room with fifty
of us there on cots, So I
28
00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.439
thought that was rock bottom. And
at the end I was one hundred and
29
00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.719
forty eight pounds and I'm two fifteen
to twenty right now. The rock bottom
30
00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:40.840
is you just have to stop digging. And this is for people, whether
31
00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:46.680
you have struggled or are struggling with
addiction, or if you struggle with depression
32
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.840
or anxiety, or you know,
any of these things that take people out.
33
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.120
This moment right now can be that
rock bottom. I wanted to die,
34
00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.919
but I couldn't. And when I
was at the end, I was
35
00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:04.719
so willing to give up everything about
myself. That's when I was finally able
36
00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:09.199
to find that willingness to do whatever
it took. I thought to that point
37
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.560
that I was doing whatever it took. I thought that going to meetings was
38
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.199
enough. I thought that going to
church was enough. But everything was so
39
00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.919
tightly in my grasp for my plans
on how I was going to stop using.
40
00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:25.840
And as soon as I got to
the point where I understood that,
41
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.479
that's when I actually had this seed
of hope for something greater than myself to
42
00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.919
actually come in and help me.
Adam describes a moment in the first few
43
00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:42.319
days after getting clean when he could
truly visualize a life of sobriety. On
44
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.000
day five clean and sober, I
was at International House of Pancakes with my
45
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:50.800
best friend Brandon. I was eating
French toast and I got a text message
46
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.800
on my phone from my dope dealer. He's like, hey, bro,
47
00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.120
I just got some new stuff.
It's fire. I'll give you free twenty
48
00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.439
to try out. And right when
I read that text message, something came
49
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.960
in through the top of my head
all the way through my body. My
50
00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:03.159
toes were tingling, my fingers were
tingling. I lost my peripheral vision.
51
00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.879
All I could see was the phone, and then my thumbs just started texting
52
00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:08.840
back and it was in like King
James. It was like, ye shaw,
53
00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:11.520
not text me again, thou has
texted me for the last time.
54
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.159
And then at the end of the
text message, I feel that thing leave
55
00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:15.639
me, like go up through my
head. I was like, what the
56
00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:16.360
heck. I was like, dude, that was not me. I pushed
57
00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.879
send and I'm putting it in my
pocket. The entire restaurant had completely disappeared.
58
00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:23.199
I immediately knew what was happening.
I said, thank you God,
59
00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:28.000
thank you cud Adam also faced a
hard realization about the power of faith and
60
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.680
the steps he'd still have to take
on his own. I believe that God
61
00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.879
has the power to miraculously heal people
instantly didn't happen for me. I was
62
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:41.279
really, really sick. I was
shaking in withdraw and what I learned in
63
00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.079
this period is that even though God
is always with me, there's a lot
64
00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.480
of work that I have to do. So for the next twenty days,
65
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:53.800
I am withdrawing, I'm sick,
I'm craving. The only relief I got
66
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.839
was through the twelve step work.
I had a sponsor that came and picked
67
00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.920
me up every morning at six thirty
am in his nineteen eighty three mailman Jeep,
68
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.360
and we would do the work.
Then on day twenty five he came
69
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.199
and picked me up. We went
to do my fifth step, which is
70
00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:11.600
where you kind of confess everything to
somebody, to another human being in God
71
00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:15.560
and be yourself. Nothing miraculously happened. Next morning on day twenty six,
72
00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:17.920
I'm looking at this beautiful sunrise to
the right of me, and I have
73
00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.120
a spiritual awakening that for the first
time since I was twelve years old,
74
00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.759
I had no desire to drink or
use. In that moment, when I
75
00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:30.439
actually felt that change, I knew
that it was my purpose to help others
76
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.519
find that. Adam says that his
experience taught him to embrace his imperfections and
77
00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.680
to put his trust in a bigger
plan. It's not about thinking your way
78
00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:44.399
out of anything. It's not about
knowing your way out of anything. A
79
00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.600
lot of people know what they have
to do, but they just don't.
80
00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:53.240
Doesn't matter who you are, what
you believe about yourself. You are here
81
00:05:53.959 --> 00:06:02.800
for a bigger reason than yourself,
period and one you've experienced somebody's life changing
82
00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:10.240
in front of you, where a
light turns on and you watch that happen,
83
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:16.519
There's no greater dope. There is
nothing better than watching someone in front
84
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.600
of you have the same experience I
had on day twenty six. My life
85
00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.720
is a spiritual experience. Now I'm
not pretending like I am doing it perfectly
86
00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:30.040
in any way, shape or form
right, but having that thought process about
87
00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:34.079
wanting to continue to progress, it's
so freeing. You know, I'm able
88
00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:39.600
to just do one day at a
time, do the best I can today,
89
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:44.199
and then the outcomes are what the
outcomes are. That's author and speaker
90
00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:47.079
Adam Vibe Gunting. We've got links
to Adam's work in our show notes and
91
00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:53.040
on our website at search and Replace
dot Shall. Search and Replace was produced
92
00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.600
by Nicole Hubbard with support from Connie
Evans, The Baby Lowman, April Smith,
93
00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.920
the Podcast Taxi executive producer Taylor.
Our theme music was composed by Alex
94
00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:08.120
Rafeire. I'm Joe Taylor Jr.
This has been a podcast Taxi Radio production
95
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:15.199
Support for Surge and Replace is provided
by Johnson Taylor User Experience Specialists serving media
96
00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:19.839
and technology companies that want their websites
to work. Learn more about how top
97
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:28.759
performing businesses eliminate barriers between customers and
their goals at www dot Make the website
98
00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.800
work for me dot com
