21. From Heroin to Hero - The Road to Recovery with Frank Ferrante

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Episode Summary

In this episode, Frank talks about his lifelong journey through addiction and what he’s learned through the trials of recovery. He talks about his documentary “May I Be Frank?” and the impact that it has had on his life.
“A commitment is a spiritual experience” Frank Ferrante

Highlights

• Frank doesn’t blame his addiction on anybody but himself, but he does believe that his tough childhood helped “clear the runway” and perhaps made him more susceptible to addiction.
• A problem for people staying on path is that they believe that there is one place of ultimate nirvana where everything is ok all the time. This is a false belief and causes stress and setbacks.
• Frank found the Alcoholics Anonymous group incredibly supportive.
• Frank doesn’t believe that not drinking or using drugs is the hardest part of the process. Making amends and restitution are much more difficult.
• Drugs and alcohol are symptomatic of a deeper underlying condition.
• It is not about getting rid of the ego. It is about learning how to make peace with it.
• People must go through an interval of discomfort to have a transformative experience.
• For the documentary “May I Be Frank?”, Frank ate all vegan and raw food for 42 days.
• After the 42-day experiment, the help that Frank had all left him, and it was tough to continue.
• Frank was later treated for Hepatitis C and was given opiates. He started to fall back into his old patterns and went through a dark patch where he almost died and had to go to rehab.
• He then committed to a healthier diet and began to work out and lost 125 lbs.
• Frank has been sober for over 15 years.
• One of Frank's favorite things about having done the film is how open it makes others to speak with him openly and share their stories.

Relevant Links
May I Be Frank - Movie
May I Be Frank - Book
Outwitting The Devil - Napoleon Hill
Gabor Mate - The Power of Addiction - Ted Talk