Hey — if you’ve got a minute, sit with me. This is Mark’s story: a guy who drank for decades, hit rock bottom with court-ordered consequences, and then discovered that real recovery wasn’t about willpower or meetings alone, but about working the steps, getting honest, and letting a spiritual process do the heavy lifting.

He didn’t start sober by choice — he started because his life wouldn’t allow the old ways anymore. He resisted AA at first, sat in his car for meetings, and read the Big Book until it clicked. What followed was brutal honesty: long fourth steps, a raw fifth, discovering selfishness and dishonesty he’d hidden from himself, and then the relief of actually asking a power greater than himself to remove those defects.

The thing that lands with me is how practical it all is: step-by-step inventory, making true amends (not just saying “sorry”), and continuing work each day with step 10 and step 11 practices. He learned to stop living in resentments, to accept people as they are, and to pause and take things to God before exploding. Those little habits saved him one day at a time.

And it’s not just personal recovery — it became a life. After doing the work, he started sponsoring, carrying the message, and even taking AA meetings into places all over the globe. He’s sat in rooms from Oman to China, met recovering people everywhere, and watched how working with others protects his sobriety. That’s the “we” in the story: doing the steps and giving what you’ve been given.

If you’re curious or skeptical, know this: the book’s language guided him, but the real change came when he actually did the steps and lived them. There were no shortcuts — just persistent daily practice, humility, tough amends, and a willingness to be of service.

If this resonated, please subscribe, like, or leave a review — it helps the show reach people who might need it. If you want to support the podcast, consider a small PayPal contribution at paypal.me/a-shotglassofrecovery. And if you’re local (or adventurous), pop into the AA Solution Seekers meeting every day at 7 a.m. — say hello.

Thanks for listening. If Mark can rebuild a life, travel the world, and keep helping others, there’s hope for you too.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey friend — I want you to meet Gail. She stumbled into a meeting by accident and ended up finding a spiritual life that saved her: sober since May 16, 1998. This episode is raw, honest, and filled with the kind of stories that make you feel like you’re sitting across the kitchen table, listening over coffee.

Gail walks us through how alcoholism and addiction crept into her life long before the first drink, the grief that shaped her choices, and the rock-bottom moments that felt impossible to climb out of. She doesn’t sugarcoat the lies, the IV drug use, the evictions, or the nights when she was a “dead woman walking.”

What really lands is the turnaround — the small, ordinary steps that became her lifeline. A compassionate sponsor, honest Fourth and Fifth Steps, and a willingness to trust something bigger all led to real changes: steady work in sales, clean sheets for her kids, reconciling with family, and even caregiving for her mother in the end. It’s not a miracle that erased everything overnight; it’s everyday recovery lived out one choice at a time.

Gail’s story is also full of surprises and joy: marrying quickly, raising and reconnecting with her children, becoming a grandma, adopting dogs, retiring from the RV industry, and graduating college at 70. She shares the small pleasures — the sound of a washing machine, playing jacks, and learning to be useful to others — that make life lovely again.

If you need a reminder that change is possible, that honesty and simple spiritual work can rebuild what addiction took, Gail’s voice is gentle proof. She keeps it real, humble, and full of gratitude — and honestly, you’ll leave feeling quietly hopeful.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey — pull up a chair. In this episode Ken gives a raw, unfiltered walk-through of his life before and after Alcoholics Anonymous: the first time the alcohol hooked him, the spiraling years of arrests and rehabs, and the wake-up moment in a jail cell that changed everything. He’s honest about relapses, spiritual routines that faded when he started traveling, and the pressure of being a recovered ‘example’ who still struggles.

Ken shares how AA helped him rebuild relationships with his mom and sister, the power of sponsorship and service, and how carrying the message has taken him from local home groups to organizing big conferences. He’s refreshingly candid about the seasons when sobriety felt like survival rather than joy — and how that’s okay. Whether you’re new, seasoned, or just curious, this conversation is full of humanity, hope, and practical insight for staying connected to a Higher Power and to each other.

Stick around for stories about international meetings, the awkwardness of Zoom fellowship, and why community — not perfection — is what keeps recovery alive. If this resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and consider supporting the show.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey — thanks for stopping by. This episode is a raw, candid share from Pocket (also known as Eileen/Jasper), who walks us through growing up around alcohol, early blackouts, risky choices, and a long history of cutting and running from the people they hurt. They’re honest about how drinking and drug use shaped relationships, identities, and moves between cities, and how shame, secrecy, and control kept them stuck.

What changed was coming into the rooms of AA, finally asking for help, and working the Steps with a sponsor. Pocket talks about the slow, painful, but real shifts that happen when you stop relying on self-will — including being able to show up for family, face grief, and start to replace desperate rescues with a spiritual connection. It’s not a polished miracle; it’s messy, steady recovery. If you want an honest look at how accountability, community, and faith can help in the long haul, this one hits deep.

Subscribe, leave a review, or support the show if it resonates. If you’re local, the speaker’s home group, AA Solution Seekers, meets daily at 7 a.m. — pop in and say hi.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey friend — this is Kevin's story: messy, real, and quietly powerful. He’s a lawyer who’s walked in and out of AA rooms over the years, crashed cars, lost jobs and marriages, and finally found sobriety more than once. He’s honest about relapses, the compulsion that still whispers at the edges, and how the program and a caring sponsor nudged him back toward a life he actually wants.

Kevin talks about the little things that reveal character — anger over tape while wrapping gifts, the humiliation of blackouts, and the surprising strength of saying, “I'm powerless.” He shares how serving others, staying connected to meetings, and leaning on his wife and sponsor helped him rebuild when he drifted away. He doesn’t pretend he’s perfect — he’s trying, one day at a time.

If you’re curious about AA, searching for encouragement after a relapse, or just want a candid conversation about recovery’s ups and downs, Kevin’s talk feels like a friend telling you straight — honest, a little funny, and full of heart.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey friend — I'm Ollis, a grateful member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and I want to share the road that took me from desperate and demoralized to living in joy and freedom. I tell the truth: my first drink was when I was four, and I drank for decades before I found a program that actually worked. This episode is me talking about how AA's tools—the steps, traditions, and simple practices—changed everything.

I start with appreciation for the people who keep meetings alive and then dive into what saved my life: the clear path in the Big Book and the Twelve Steps. I explain the first step the way I finally understood it (there are three parts: the bodily difference, the destructive voice in my head, and the spiritual malady), and why realizing those things was the beginning of real change for me.

We walk through steps 2–9 in plain talk: admitting I’m not God, offering my life up in a moving prayer, doing a fearless Fourth Step with someone I trust, making specific amends, and why direct, face-to-face repair matters. I share how this work gives you a personality change sufficient to bring about recovery — and not because life becomes perfect, but because you learn to meet life with presence and service.

I also talk about Steps 10–12 as the way to stay alive in recovery: daily watchfulness, turning to a Higher Power, honesty with others, and turning outward to help. I give a practical 90-day challenge: do the nightly inventory (the ten questions on page 86) every night for 90 unbroken days. I promise you — it rockets awareness and spiritual progress.

If you’re new or been around awhile and still aren’t living in joy, this talk is for you. I tell you what I wish someone had told me when I showed up: victims don’t recover, but people who do the work can move from a soul on fire to a steady, useful, joyful life.

Stick around for practical tips, plain-spoken spiritual talk, and an invitation to try the tools that changed my life. If you like the episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and consider supporting the show. Pop into our home group sometime — we meet every day at 7 a.m. and would love to say hello.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Hey, friend — this is Isha from Kampala. I’m an alcoholic, and by the grace of God and the people in AA, I’ve been sober since April 11, 2011. I want to share my story — from that first sip at nine years old, through the chaos of blackouts, lost jobs, and broken relationships, to the moment I finally admitted I needed help. Hitting my wife and son was the wake-up call that forced me to face the truth: I was a raging alcoholic and I needed a real solution.

Rehab reintroduced me to AA and the Big Book, and with a sponsor’s patient guidance I worked the steps. The program taught me the hard lessons — that stopping drinking is only the beginning, that alcohol was never my real problem, and that relying on a power greater than myself and working with others keeps me sober. I’ve learned to make amends, to accept and surrender, and to be a channel for the power that keeps me alive and useful.

These days life’s better than I could have planned: I have friendships I never thought possible, I work in treatment helping others, and I still grow—step by step—through prayer, meditation, and service. If you’ve ever wondered whether recovery is real, know this: the promises are true. You can find freedom, serenity, and a life that’s bigger than you ever imagined. Thanks for listening — and if this touched you, subscribe, leave a review, or say hello at an AA meeting. Every step back to life matters.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Welcome to the speaker series on A Shotglass of Recovery. I'm Lisa, your host, and today we dive into Andrew's powerful sharing about alcoholism, struggle, and hope. He walks us through a childhood of instability, early drinking, foster homes, overdoses, DUIs, and the desperate cycles that nearly destroyed his family. You’ll hear the raw truth about hitting bottom — handcuffed in a sheriff’s department, hiding keys, and the terror of waking up not remembering violent acts. But you’ll also hear the other side: the small, steady practices that saved him. From getting his first Big Book and AA hug to daily meetings, sponsors like Dr. Harry, and the life-changing work of the Steps, Andrew shows how recovery became a real, useful, and meaningful life. He talks honestly about the psychic change the book promises, the relief of discovering purpose and usefulness, and how being present each day — one on top of another — is the magic that keeps him sober. If you or someone you love is struggling, this episode is a hopeful reminder that change is possible, that fellowship matters, and that recovery can lead to a life filled with gratitude, family, and service. Join us, subscribe, and consider supporting the show. Keep coming back, one day at a time.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Shot glass of recovery. Work in the 12 steps. Listen to fellow speak. You can listen in wherever you may be. It's a shot glass of recovery. Okay, so hi everybody. My name is Karen and today I am the guest host on a Shot glass of recovery. I'm an alcoholic. This is going to be very informal discussion on the different ways people sponsor. I've asked Lisa, Charlene, myself and Sam to share on today's panel.

Last tip on sponsorship and being sponsored,  If you can look at the person who has been guiding you through the program and in a non-judgmental way, you're just seeing, wow, what they say and what they do are two different things or you feel you've outgrown them, maybe you met someone new who you really are inspired by...It's your recovery. Protect it. Value it. So my final piece of advice is it's ok to gently and kindly separate and move on. And one of the things that I recently started doing, if I take on a sponsee that has another sponsor, first I ask some questions, Because sometimes people just want to cut and run because They don't like the honesty that their sponsor just gave them. I'm not going to tell you anything different, so I want to know why are you interested in a change?

Why does someone want to leave the sponsor that they currently have? If it's a legitimate reason like that, like, you know, there might come a time in every relationship where you surpass the person that was once your guide and that's okay so it's time to choose another one so what i have started to suggest is you sit down with your potential new sponsor or on your own and you write a thank you letter not a you're fired not a goodbye see you later you suck . But a thank you letter and you focus on "Thank you for your time, Thank you for your honesty, thank you for being vulnerable and honestly sharing your journey and experience with me.   Something like that. 

enjoy the show!

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.

Listen in wherever you are, and let these voices remind you that recovery is a shared journey. 

Hey friend — if you tuned into this episode of Shot Glass of Recovery, welcome. We dig into Step 9 today: making direct amends. It’s not about a dramatic confession or a trophy; it’s about humility, honesty, and getting your heart and behavior to match. We hear stories about sponsors, messy pasts, and the slow, steady work of repairing the harm we did.

This step asks for prudence, courage, and emotional sobriety. That means checking your motives, pausing, and asking a sponsor or your Higher Power for guidance before you jump in. Don’t rush because you want relief — aim to set others free instead. If you’re not in the right attitude (and that can take time), wait, keep working the steps, pray, and practice living amends until you are truly ready.

Sometimes amends are partial or not direct at all — protection, safety, and timing matter. Making a financial restitution, writing a careful letter, or offering service to a community can be the right move. And remember: a real amend shows up through changed behavior. Repeatedly showing up sober and trustworthy rebuilds the things words can’t buy.

Practical stuff we heard in the episode: keep checking in with your sponsor, make a plan for each person on your list, be patient, and don’t let ego steer you. Expect varying reactions — people might be shocked, grateful, or even hostile — and that’s okay. You can only control your part: clear admission, restitution where possible, and consistent action afterward.

Bottom line — this is a process, not a one-time fix. There’s real freedom on the other side of honest amends, but it’s earned by steady work, humility, and compassion. Take the pause, keep seeking counsel, and trust that doing it right will change you — and, in small and big ways, the people you hurt.

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

If you love the show, I’m asking for your support. Drop a 1$, 5, 10 or 25 in the virtual pay pay basket at paypal.me/AShotGlassofRecovery .  Any amount will help me afford to fund this project and continue to bring you great speakers, the Big Book Study, Literature studies on recovery, workshops and Lisa shots that contain a wildcard of variety.

You can also support the show by liking, subscribing, and following it on your favourite platforms. Leave a 5 star review while you're there! There is nothing I love more than your engagement so please email me at [email protected] and let me know how this show has contributed to your unique journey in recovery. Let me know if I can celebrate a milestone with you and give you a shout out. Would you like to be a guest? Drop me a line by email.