RE 594: The Most Important Person

Today we have Eric. He is 55 years old, lives in Columbus, OH and took his last drink on February 14th, 2008.   This episode is brought to you by:   Sign up and get 10% off: Better Help Sober Link sign up and claim your $100 enrollment bonus   Check out our upcoming Recovery Elevator Events. We have Bozeman next month, Morocco in March 2027 followed by a sober Camino de Santiago in October 2027.   [04:52] Thoughts from Paul:   The most important person in the rooms of recovery is not the person with 40 years of sobriety spouting off all the wisdom compiled over the years. It is the newcomer. The person in the room who shares the most truth, is the person who has the least amount of time from their last drink. To the new listener, the newcomer, we want to hear from you. Paul shares a personal experience where a newcomer gave him some of the best motivation he ever received.   The newcomer is also the most important person in the room because a core foundation of recovery is helping others. People in recovery want to help, and we encourage you to accept that help.   There are many other reasons why the newcomer is the most important. And if you're a new listener to Recovery Elevator, we are happy to have you. Stick around.   [08:38] Paul introduces Eric:   Eric is the podcast host of The One You Feed. He is 55 years old and lives in Columbus, Ohio with his partner of 10 years. He has one adult son who is a wildland firefighter. For fun, Eric enjoys playing guitar, walking, hiking, and reading.   Eric started drinking as a teenager, but it didn't really take off until he was around eighteen. Over the next seven years, Eric says he was rarely sober. He was just drinking alcohol initially, but his drug use progressed to where he says he was a homeless heroin addict facing 50 years in prison and weighed only 100 pounds.   Eric was sober for about eight years but ended up drinking again and leaving th