Allen C. Age 35 Sober: 8/24/15Allen C. Age 35 Sober: 8/24/15
Keep Coming Back: Real Stories of Sobriety & Recovery
"We had these intentions, but drugs and alcohol got in the way of everything. I knew I'd lost the power of choice" "I didn't know how do do anything without drinking. I didn't know how to date. I didn't know how to hangout with friends...and in the beginning its very lonely." Allen is the only person in this podcast series who knew me when I was active. We met in 2007, and spend much of the interview reminiscing and remarking on just how different life is today for both of us.
31:24•17 Oct 2019
From Cartagena Chaos to AA Chairs: Allen C on Building a Whole New Life
Episode Overview
- Good intentions are no match for addiction once the power of choice is lost.
- Saying yes to help, even in a small moment, can start a chain of life-changing events.
- Finding meetings where people feel relatable and genuinely happy can make sticking with AA easier.
- Working with a sponsor and doing the steps is framed as “robbing the bank and taking the money” rather than just attending meetings.
- The biggest rewards of sobriety show up in healthier relationships with family, partners, friends, and at work.
“We had these intentions, but drugs and alcohol got in the way of everything. I knew I'd lost the power of choice.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation between host Mike S and his long-time friend Allen C tracks a wild arc from “soliciting for opiates on the streets of Cartagena” to chairing big AA meetings and handing each other the mic. You’ll hear them look back on a New Year’s trip to Colombia that started with promises of a “relaxing” holiday and quickly turned into bribing a doctor for oxycodone.
That yes sent him to a no-frills rehab in Israel, sleeping in a basement with strangers, and later into his first AA meetings in New York – from thinking “I’m fucked” in a dingy daytime meeting to finding Saturday Beginners, a young, energetic group where “people look like really, really, really happy.” For anyone new to sobriety, Allen’s description of early recovery will sound familiar: feeling totally alone, not knowing how to date, go on holiday, or even attend work events without drinking.
Allen calls it the moment he realised he’d “lost the power of choice” – a pattern that kept repeating no matter how good his intentions were. Allen talks through his medical bottom, a blood clot that landed him in hospital and opened a tiny window where he finally said yes to help.
He shares how sponsorship and the steps shifted things – especially the line he kept hearing: “If you don’t do the steps, it’s like robbing the bank and not taking the money.” The episode also touches on amends (including a tense Facebook message to an ex), repairing family ties, and learning to actually show up for friends. Allen’s main advice to newcomers? Give yourself a real shot: get a sponsor, do the steps, and see what happens.
If you’re wondering whether a “whole new life” without drink or drugs is really possible, this story might make you question what you’re actually afraid of giving up.
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