Dan Faulkner came from a middle class background in Kenmore, Washington. His was the kind of existence that appeared normal on the outside. 

But Dan's mom suffered from addiction and volatile mental health issues and his father was a "conspiracy theorist before it was cool." 

That led to early troubles for Dan, who looked for acceptance at age 15 from a group of friends who used drugs and drinking to find community. By age 17, Dan was smoking speed out of a hollowed out light bulb. 

Fortunately, his parents provided him help when he really needed them, and got him into an in-house treatment program. After a few false starts, Dan began his long-term recovery. 

Dan graduated college and started a successful real estate career. Twenty years of personal work later, Dan is now a husband and father of two who credits his sobriety and happiness to "being tired of not having hope" and committing to living a life of surrender.