One of the most pronounced successes I have had was finishing a drug detoxification program called "The Purification Rundown".

     When I was in college, before I discovered Scientology, I took drugs. I was sick a lot and I didn't feel "good" unless I was "high" on drugs. I felt like "today" was not quite as good as yesterday, and there was a pretty good chance that tomorrow would not be as good as today. I felt like the world "owed me".

     I continued to take drugs after I graduated, and started feeling more and more that I was "removed" or "separated" from other people and even from the world around me. I felt that it was OK to do anything I wanted, without regard for the bad effects I was creating on my family and friends. I thought that as long as I didn't get caught, I hadn't done anything wrong. I was heading down a bad road.

     I stopped taking drugs when I started taking a basic Scientology course about communication skills. Later, when I had flushed out the residual drugs in my body and finished the Purification Rundown (Scientology detoxification program), I felt that I had literally come back from the dead. My body felt like it did when I was a kid. I didn't feel tired and depressed. I felt more alive and 'in tune' with my family and friends.

     I remember the exact moment it happened: I was running on some grass next to a body of water, and I suddenly felt like I could really be a part of the world again. I felt the sun and the wind for what seemed like the first time in my life. I didn't feel like I was fighting a long, lonely, losing battle. Instead, I felt really great, and I still do.