Mike talks about his incredible 10-year sobriety anniversary and how his Lindell Recovery Network™ will give addicts across the country the hope they need on the “What’s On Your Mind Radio Show”.
Mike: clean and sober for 10 years
As Mike says, “It was quite a journey.” For 10 years ago, on January 16, 2009, Mike quit crack cocaine and all his other addictions overnight. God freed him of all those addictions and all the desires because Mike knew all along the “MyPillow platform was a much bigger purpose”.
For Mike was a 20-year cocaine addict who then switched to crack cocaine in the early 2000s. And, he will tell you that crack cocaine is a “horrific drug”.
After being freed of his addictions through prayer, Mike did go to a faith-based treatment center to find out why he was addicted in the first place. For, Mike believes that quitting addictions takes 2 steps: 1) quit the drugs and, 2) address why you were addicted in the first place, and replace that with God.
Mike believes that the seeds of his addictions were planted in his childhood. His parents got a divorce when he was seven years old and he got moved into a new school. Through all these changes, Mike developed a fear of rejection.
Due to these feelings of rejection Mike later started using drugs just to fit in and talk to people. But, it just got worse and worse until he finally quit through prayer.
Faith-based treatment centers
Mike believes that the faith-based treatment centers, such as Teen Challenge, Union Gospel, and the Salvation Army are the best. These centers are not shame-based, for shame-based centers do not work: you feel worse than when you went in, and “now you don’t have your drugs to mask the pain”.
Addicts stay 6-8 months at these faith-based centers and, during that time, addicts are not only learning to give up their addictions, they are also “learning life again”. Plus, they get hope – and the power of prayer.
And, what Mike found is that addiction is a lot of work – it is the hardest work there is. Life gets so much easier when you are freed from your addictions because when you are addicted, you’re making promises that you can’t keep and that makes you feel even feel worse inside, so you want to do drugs.
Addicts need hope
Most importantly, you must give addicts hope. People don’t come up to Mike and talk about the MyPillow, they come up and say, “Wow, you beat your addictions,” and talk about Mike’s redemption, salvation, and transformation and how that gives them hope.
And, towards that hope, Mike will soon launch the Lindell Recovery Network™ to give hope to addicts. For, the network will have “stories of hope” by people of the same age and addictions as the addicts seeking help, much the same way that Mike received “stories of hope” from a friend who was his same age and same addictions who had quit.
MyPillow: a platform for bigger things
Mike relates that he says, “Thanks, God. It’s been surreal. I always knew that the pillow was just a platform for much bigger things.” And, we are certainly seeing bigger things from Mike.
Who knows what his next step will be?