Darryl Duke grew up in York, Pennsylvania. He had a difficult childhood with little guidance from his parents and struggled to form friendships. Despite having fears and insecurities as a teenager, Darryl won a Golden Gloves Championship at sixteen, but it did little to boost his self-confidence and self-esteem. It was soon after this that he found alcohol temporarily could, and it slowly became a part of his life.
However, after years of drinking, Darryl woke up one morning hungover and knew he couldn’t go on living like he was. He went to Alcoholics Anonymous and used the Twelve Steps to stay sober and live a spiritual life, but eventually, his search would pull him in a new direction.
Although grateful for what AA did for him, Darryl is no longer a member. As his beliefs in life changed, so did some of his views on substance use and recovery. It is now Darryl’s hope that his life experiences help others find greater happiness and meaning in their lives.
“Some people say life is hard and has no meaning. Maybe life has no meaning except for the meaning we give it. I found that having a sense of purpose in our lives helps. I define my purpose as helping others. I’ve also found that by helping others, we help ourselves. In this sense, we’re all one. Life can seem hard at times, but if we use those times to grow stronger and our experiences from those times to help others, we begin to see how easy life can be and that it does, indeed, have meaning.”
—Darryl S. Duke