We recently connected with Christian Young and have shared our conversation below.

Christian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Taking risks is often associated with negative results. Sometimes risks can have rewards. Throughout my life, I have taken many risks. Risks that have put my life in danger, choices that put my freedom at risk, and risks that could have affected others. The negative risks that I took often felt like the only way to survive. And sometimes they bred negative results. Living in active addiction, addicts take risks every single day. Active addiction can feel like turmoil like there is no way out. Every day felt like I had no choice but to use opiates because if I didn’t I wasn’t going to have a good day and neither were you. As an addict, I was willing to do just about anything the change the way I felt. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin and my self-esteem was low therefore in order to mask those feelings I used opiates. Using opiates took a lot from me and beat me down. After enough consequences, I had had enough. Getting treatment in the mind of an addict is a risk because there is part of us that is afraid it may not work. That was the case for me anyway. I had been to treatment before so what’s going to be different this time? What had to change was me. I had to be willing to change. I needed to be open-minded for anything to work. I had nothing to lose anyway. I had lost everything. Detoxing from opiates is excruciating and miserable for about 4-5 days. But it’s the risk an addict takes to get clean. After getting clean my life slowly began to get better. I believe if we put good energy out into the world we will receive the same in return. My life is so much different today than it was in active addiction. I can be counted on to do what I say I will do. I have an amazing support system and a beautiful relationship with my fiancé. I can be a member of society rather than a menace to society. I love the life I get to live today.

Christian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Christian Young, but the athletes I work with call me Coach Chris. I am a fitness trainer in Memphis, TN. I specialize in Strength and Conditioning, Functional Training, and Sports Performace. I always knew I wanted to help people. I never knew exactly how I would do it but I knew helping people in some capacity was my calling. I played sports growing up and got interested in fitness as a teen. Although at that time I never thought I would become a fitness trainer. I studied psychology in school, primarily because I was interested in how the mind works. What I began to notice as I continued on my own fitness journey was that as my body got stronger it seemed my mind also got stronger. My confidence increased, my self-esteem was boosted, and my willingness to be positive was easier. Training became a way for me to release stress and burn off anxious energy. I want my clients to feel the same benefits I did, and I believe most do. Most of my clients report increased energy, a better outlook on life, and being more mindful of how they fuel their bodies. I enjoy getting to know my clients on a deeper level and knowing who they are. It can be hard to help someone if you don’t know how they operate or process information. I want every client that I work with to know that I truly care about them and will do everything I can to help them reach their goals because I know what it did for me.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience-the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulty is in all of us I believe. Although some people give up before they can make it through to see better days. My name is Christian, and I am an addict. I am now gratefully recovered. I was actively addicted to opiates for about 8 years most of my 20s were less than ideal, for most people. I couldn’t manage my emotions, maintain relationships or keep a job. The path I imagined I would be on at 25 was nothing like what 10-year-old me had imagined. Life frankly was miserable. During a period of sobriety, I decided that I would begin working out again. It was going well and I was pleased with the results I was seeing. And, so as an addict would do I began obsessing about working out. Working out was all I could think about at times. If I didn’t train some days I became anxious and even sometimes depressed that I was missing the gym. Addiction makes the brain crave more of whatever is making the addict feel good. As an addict, I always wanted more. I was working out 2-3 times a day at one point and thought I was doing myself a favor. Turns out that not drinking enough water and taking supplements you haven’t quite fully researched isn’t a good idea. One morning I woke up and immediately knew something was not right. I was massively dehydrated, I felt slightly delirious, I could not walk, and I had lost control of the left side of my face. I immediately went to the emergency room. After the doctors did their tests they determined that I had rhabdomyolysis which happens when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins and electrolytes into the blood. My left hamstring and quad had completely atrophied over a period of about 2 weeks. While in the hospital the doctors also determined that I had avascular necrosis in the head of my left femur and I would need surgery in order to fix this. Being in the hospital with nothing to do it seemed like but waiting to hear more bad news sent me into a negative and unhealthy mindset. I spiraled into a deep depression and felt like my life no longer had any purpose because I thought I would never again do the activities I loved doing. After getting out of the hospital I went to see a rheumatologist and received what I thought was basically a death sentence. He assumed I had some sort of degenerative muscle disease. That was all I could take, hearing those words turned my world upside down at that moment. I walked out of the doctor’s office and sat in my car and cried. I thought my life was over. For about 6 months after that, you would have thought I had a death wish. I was reckless, I was angry, and I didn’t care about myself or anyone else for that matter. Behavior like that can only go on so long before you look up and you have nothing. And that is exactly what happened. I had a job but lost it. Friends and family didn’t want me around, no car, and my mom is paying my rent otherwise I would have been homeless. Eventually, in n a moment of clarity, I realized that I was tired of living that way. So slowly I began trying to piece my life back together. After my hip surgery, I was able to get a job as a janitor at a gym. I was willing to take whatever I could get. Although not necessarily the most glamorous job, I was grateful. Being back in the gym motivated me to start training again however I didn’t the mental fortitude at the time to even try. I knew that I wanted to I just couldn’t start. I start seeing a psychiatrist and I told him about all of my problems and how unfair life has been to me. The best advice he gave me was to essentially pretend that I didn’t have degenerative muscle disease. Because I was only telling myself that I did have it. There was never any testing done that confirmed those results. I just needed to change my mindset. And over time that is what I did. I watched my life begin to change for the better as my mental health got better. I started getting promotions at work, I was able to regain some of the material things I had lost, and my outlook on life was much more positive. I learned how strong the mind truly is and I began using meditation as a coping mechanism. The life I have today is so beautiful and I am truly grateful for the life I live today. Today I am a fitness trainer and entrepreneur. I love what I do today. I get to help people become the best version of themselves and learn healthier habits. I am also engaged to be married, something I had thought would not be possible. Life can seem impossible sometimes, but it’s not, take it from me. I almost gave up.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Learning will be something we continue to do until the day we die and in the meantime, we unlearn habits that keep us from progressing. I have had to unlearn “values” or “habits” that were instilled in me as a child. As a 13-year-old waking up at 5 am on a summer morning to work on a construction site all day long in the Arkansas heat was less than ideal, I hated it. However, this was what was expected of me coming from a family of business owners. If my stepfather was working I was working. What I wasn’t aware of as a child was that the habit of overworking was being implanted into my psyche. When I look back my parents were most proud of me for the harder I worked and the more I achieved. So I related how much I could accomplish with how much my stepfather would be pleased. At times I felt as if I could never please him no matter how much I did. Nothing ever seemed like it was enough. Once I move out of my parents’ house and go out into the real world and begin working, I noticed how much more work I did than my coworkers. I often overworked because I felt that is what I was supposed to do. I could not relax, because I would only think about work. I would feel as if I am not doing enough, even though everyone says I am doing more than enough. On days I wasn’t working, I felt like I was missing something. Work became a catalyst that triggered anxiety. Through therapy, I have learned to create a work-life balance. I had to create boundaries with my work life and personal life. I don’t want to let what happens at work negatively affect my personal life so I try to keep work at work. I had to learn to accept that I was enough. I don’t have to do a ton of things for someone to value me. I had to unlearn the habit of overworking. We are meant to enjoy life and experience things with those we love not just work until we die.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.p7sportsacademy.com/
• Instagram: ctyoung501_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christian.young.9693
• Other: https://vafmemphis.com/