Before getting into Scientology I was always upset, lazy and introverted. I would go days on end without doing much of anything except watching television and thinking about how I was never going to amount to anything. I was very serious from day to day and I didn't smile much. Having fun just was not something I knew a whole lot about.

     I really wanted to be a musician and play guitar for people in a live situation, but I was too scared and I had absolutely no confidence in my ability to play, even though my friends told me I was good enough.

     Deep down I knew that I had a lot more potential than I was using, but I didn't know how to tap into it and I really didn't care anyway.

     When I got into Scientology that all changed. Actually, it was before I even "got into" it. Just knowing it was there and that it might be a way to make myself feel better and more productive was a huge step in the right direction. When I finally started doing some courses and reading some texts it lived up to all the expectations I had made for it. It just rang true to me that Scientology was the answer to my problems.

     Now, about five years later, I am an incredibly happy person. My IQ is about 30 points higher, I am productive and have a great deal of fun. And I am never introverted. In fact, I am so extroverted that the toughest situations don't phase me. Talking in front of large groups of people is actually fun now, and not a terror, nor is playing music for them. In short, Scientology has delivered to me directly the ability to be who I always wanted to be. The goals I had early set for myself have already been made and I have moved on to bigger goals with excitement and confidence.

     This has said nothing about what Scientology has done for my actual physical body. I was once plagued with anxiety stomach and severe neck aches. Any group of people, no matter how large or small, would make me so nervous and uncomfortable that I thought I would be sick. And every two or three weeks, for no apparent reason, my neck would start to hurt so badly that I couldn't turn it in either direction.

     Scientology has gotten rid of both of those conditions that many doctors had no solution for. I was just supposed to "live with them". Well, thanks to Scientology I don't have to, as I am a lot more healthy. In fact, now that I am thinking about it, I haven't had so much as a cold in years.

     One more thing I would like to say about Scientology is what I observe that it does for other people. I have noticed that what people refer to in books and movies as "heroes" are exactly what my friends and associates in Scientology are. They take control of the hardest of situations without so much as a blink, they are helpful, and they are honest.

     I would like to say that I had lost all hope that I was going to be someone. My life was in ruins and getting worse.

     Thanks to Scientology that is just a memory, and a pretty funny one at that.