I had to get sober or die. When I did get sober, I found out that, to stay that way, I had to face up to, and apologize for, the wrongs I had done. In one way, it wasn't easy. In another, it was a tremendous relief. And, having humbled myself in that relief, and in apology, God came flooding into my life, with consequences still to be realized.
Sober alcoholics surrender because they have to.
But surrender they must. One of those ideas states that there is no real truth, that there are only competing personal narratives. It was bad enough when deconstructionist English departments taught that. But now law schools teach it too, and Johnny Cochrane puts it into practice. So does Bill Clinton.