vol 300. Never Give Up with Chris A.

vol 300. Never Give Up with Chris A.

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This speaker-style conversation with Chris A. offers a raw, fast-paced account of what it’s like to go from ‘too far gone’ to building a life worth keeping. Chris shares how his drinking and drug use escalated from a seemingly stable, loving childhood into ten years of arrests, homelessness, and five years behind bars.

By his own estimate, there were around 25 treatment attempts, multiple DUIs, and a rock bottom that included being stabbed in the neck, a coma, and waking up as a hospital “John Doe”.

As he puts it, he truly believed, “doctors were done with me… society wanted to lock me up and throw away the key.” The turning point comes through an AA member named Lowell, who had written to Chris in jail years earlier and then drove over a thousand miles to collect him and his flea-ridden husky from under a bridge.

At Lowell’s home, Chris enters a fiercely structured AA routine: early mornings with readings and meditation, daily big book study, meetings every day, and nightly inventories. He describes doing about 700 resentments on his fourth step and the “insane” relief of finally sharing everything in his fifth step. You’ll hear honest talk about tough love from his parents, why enabling kept him stuck, and how he now applies similar boundaries with the men he sponsors.

Chris explains how service, structure, and a busy life—running two businesses, daily meetings, sponsoring “really desperate men”, gym sessions, and family time—keep him grounded. Today he’s engaged, self-employed, trusted around children, and even works security in bars without craving a drink.

His message to anyone suffering is simple and direct: “What do you have to lose?… Don’t procrastinate on your step work.” If you think you’re beyond help, could his story be the nudge you need to try one more time?