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What if the person you needed most wasn’t a guru or a hack, but a community that refused to give up on you?

Chad "Grizzly Bear" Bunker shares an unfiltered journey from teenage depression and addiction to relapse, recovery, and the hard-won wisdom that only comes from falling and getting back up. The story is jagged and human: a suicide attempt at nineteen, court dates and probation, detox in Dartmouth, and a recovery house that didn’t feel like progress until it did. Then an indigenous mentor named Emmett opens a door to ceremony, service, and a new way of being that reshapes everything.
The path isn’t straight. Seven sober years, unaddressed ADHD, and grief crack open old patterns. Steroids promise control and deliver chaos. Strongman training becomes both salvation and trap: PRs, medals, and the kind of recognition that rewrites identity, plus a deep sense of Indigenous pride with Mi’kmaq support and a sponsor who believes. Nova Scotia’s and Atlantic Canada’s podiums prove that grit can build a life—but shortcuts always collect their debt. When losses pile up, the crash hits hard, and the mirror is full of a version of self that can lift anything except sorrow.
What changes this time isn’t hype. It’s daily choices. Ten months off steroids. Meetings instead of the liquor store next door. Therapy and prayer. Boundaries and gratitude with bite. We talk about actionable tools: how ceremony and smudge can calm the nervous system; why sharing your feelings early beats crisis management; how community sponsorship and peer support outlast motivation; and why mindset is a practice, not a slogan. This is a story about learning to carry your past without letting it steer, and about turning strength from numbers on a bar to the quiet discipline of showing up today.
If this resonates with you, subscribe and share it with someone who needs proof that change is messy and possible. Subscribe for more honest, grounded conversations, and leave a review to help others find the show. What’s the one daily practice that keeps you steady?

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