I joined the Sea Org at a young age. I was in the Sea Org for 25 years before being declared.

Being declared, was not easy on my “I’m right” buttons (ser facs). Did I believe I was a suppressive person? No. Did I believe that I had conducted myself in a suppressive way that harmed others? Yes.

I had known someone quite close who had himself been declared many years prior and although he could easily have done his A to E steps and get back into good standing with the Church, he chose not to. He chose not to because he felt he had been “wronged.” And his life, today, is pretty messed up. He chose to forego doing his A to E steps just so he could be “right.” And he will literally take that to his deathbed. Today, he is an unhappy man.

I was determined to never let that happen to me. Sure, I had to confront things. But that confront process really saved my life. Sure, I had a hill to climb, but once I started on my A to E steps, they went quickly and I was surprised to find that the hill was not that steep.

I finished my steps without incident. In truth, the steps were not only simple, they didn’t take much time either. And further, the amount of care and attention I was given by people in the Church – whenever I needed things clarified or needed help or guidance – was really, really good. It was very obvious that the people I was talking to in the Church were highly encouraging and helpful on making this process quick and smooth. One could argue that the step on payment took a little while, but in light of the fact of having to learn everything I needed to know in order to gain employment and learn a trade having no prior formal education or experience, things actually went quickly.

I am now on my Basics, on the PDC course, on The Bridge at our local Ideal Org, winning and contributing to our field and society in helping to expand it and disseminate and bring people into it.

While I am doing very well in life and I am winning greatly, this isn't why I’m writing any of this.

See, I could have gone a much different route.

After leaving the Sea Org, I had several run-ins with some ex-Sea Org members who I knew very well (Marc Headley, Claire Headley, Steve Hall, Dan Koon and quite a few others). And I noticed a distinct pattern with these people:

Any person that I met who was not actively moving to improve their lives, were working to drag someone else down – real classic SP stuff. And if they weren't actively plotting, they had at least given up on any hope for themselves and were personally on a dwindling spiral downward.

So here I was making things move, putting my life in order, overcoming life obstacles and winning, and I am suddenly being reached out to and rubbing elbows with people who were a little too jaded or whose laughter at the "failures" of others was a little too forced or who had slipped way downtone.

At the root of it, these people were miserable and playing some weird game.

I remember trying at first to help some of them find their way. I remember training one of them in real estate so she could make more money and pay off her freeloader debt and got her employed. As thanks, she turned around and stole money from me.

I remember helping another guy out who was living with his mom and earning nothing and being a part-time courier by getting him a well-paying job. Only to have him throw it all away and join a squirrel group and try to get me to join.

All of these people were miserable.

Some of these people just seemed bent on ruining their own lives. Lives, which, quite easily, could have been put back on track so smoothly by simply applying the most rudimentary of ethics technology. And with all the help I received when doing these steps, I couldn't understand why these other miserable people, wouldn't take advantage of all that help and get back on track.

So, I am asking anyone who reads this to help reach out to anyone they know who might be in that same position. It's so easy to do the A to E steps, or resolve their issues by communicating with people in the Church. I did it – and I had no education, no experience working at a job and no outside resources. Doing the A to E steps was very easy and quick and before I knew it, I was back in the swing of things, helping others and moving up The Bridge.

But some of these people would rather give that up in favor of being miserable, leading a degraded life and spending their lives fighting a weird battle.

Weird choices.

– Adam