With my first few sponsors, I don't think I surrendered fully. I would take my circus to various towns, and sometimes I'd let someone (a new idea) join the circus, and we would continue to muddle through, with the clowns, the monkeys, and the aerialists. If someone said something I didn't like, I would pack up the circus and go to a different town.
I was gathering information and tips to add to my bric-à-brac collection. It was my collection. I was in charge. I was the ringmaster. You were the supplier. I was the customer.
At about fifteen years sober, I swept everything from the drawing board and adopted an entirely new system from scratch.
I chose my current sponsor very carefully. I chose a sponsor who I trusted sufficiently not to have to choose what to take on board from him. I just take it on board. Doing this has not caused any trouble in my life.