A Long Surrender: David P.’s Story

Recovery Reflections from our 2017 Alumni Weekend Evening Speaker

David P. spent more than two decades in recovery circles before finally surrendering to the program. He will share his experience as the evening speaker at the 2017 Anniversary Weekend, set for May 6 on the Etta campus.

I went to my first meeting on Jan. 8, 1988. Today I have four years sober.

I was in and out of AA meetings over the last 25 years before I finally surrendered. It was after marrying the love of my life and having a beautiful boy that I was able to see the truth: That I would drink again and destroy my family before it had even really started. It wasn’t a matter of “if” that would happen; It was a matter of “when.”

I made a decision to go through the AA Big Book and work the 12 Steps. I had tried so many other methods to stay sober and live successfully. The message I want to share is this: All those other methods failed to produce the desired result.

Our Book tells 100 percent of the facts about my life, mind and spiritual condition. That is what I either failed to grasp (illusion) or was in complete denial about (dishonesty) — probably a good mix of both.

The truth is that I had no clue what it really meant to be alcoholic. I thought it was just about drinking or not drinking. I found out, through honestly looking at my experience with life, that I was alcoholic before I ever took my first drink.

I also found out that our 12 Steps — and the Power that we find as the result of working them — will solve much more than the drinking problem.

As the Book says in Bill’s Story: “I would have the elements of a way of life which answered all my problems.”

Hear David P. share his story as part of Oxford Treatment Center’s 2017 Anniversary Weekend, Saturday, May 6 on the Etta campus.

View the complete schedule and register