RAW Recovery Podcast

In this episode of RAW Recovery — a Trudging Together podcast, Dion sits down with Benjamin Lehner, a recovery creator who uses social media, music, and honest storytelling to talk about sobriety, growth, and rebuilding life.

Benjamin shares a powerful story that begins long before his first drink — growing up uncomfortable in his own skin, chasing validation, and turning to substances as a way to escape himself and finally feel like he belonged. He opens up about alcoholism, opioids, the Tenderloin in San Francisco, repeated treatment attempts, and the moment when his solution stopped working.

The conversation also explores autism, terminal uniqueness, survival, and what recovery can look like when someone begins running toward the truth instead of away from it. Benjamin talks about service, fatherhood, faith, recovery content online, and why he believes all paths to recovery should be loved and encouraged.

This is an honest conversation about addiction, self-worth, spiritual energy, and the reality that recovery is not one-size-fits-all. It’s about learning that the same pain, fear, and craving that once fueled addiction can also be turned toward healing, purpose, and a better life.

If you’ve ever felt like you were too broken, too different, or too far gone, this episode is a reminder that you are not alone — and that recovery, however you walk it, is worth it.

#BenjaminLehner #RecoveryInfluencer #RecoveryCommunity #SobrietyJourney #AllPathsToRecovery #HealingOutLoud

Creating Our Own Emotional Security

For many of us in recovery, emotional security didn’t come naturally. We looked for it in other people, circumstances, money, approval, or control. But those things can change at any moment.

Recovery teaches us something different: real emotional security grows from within. It comes from spiritual principles, honesty with ourselves, and learning to rely on something deeper than fear or outside validation.

Today we’re talking about how recovery helps us build emotional stability from the inside out — not depending on what happens around us, but grounded in the principles that keep us sober and sane.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

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Today on The Daily Trudge, we’re talking about the moment when life stops looking like a fairy tale and starts looking like reality. Many of us came into recovery believing stories about how life should work—about happiness, success, family, and control. But addiction has a way of ripping the curtain down and showing us the truth.

In this episode, we’ll read and discuss a viral speech often attributed to Alan Watts that begins with “You cannot believe in fairy tales…” and connect it to the recovery experience. What happens when the illusion breaks? What do we do when we realize life isn’t the story we were told?

Recovery isn’t about finding a perfect ending—it’s about waking up, accepting life on life’s terms, and learning how to live honestly in the real world.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

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#addiction #recovery #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #sobriety #sober #love #soberlife #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #depression #alcoholism #addictionawareness #soberliving #drugaddiction #wedorecover #anxiety #onedayatatime #soberaf #addict #drugs #alcoholicsanonymous #rehab #selfcare #motivation #healing #steps #alcoholfree #selflove #addictiontreatment

God Centered Recovery

Plans Work Better When We Stop Playing God

Today Roger and I talk about Proverbs 16:3:

We talk about control, self-will, and why trying to run the show ourselves usually creates more chaos than clarity. Most of our stress comes from trying to manage outcomes instead of focusing on the next right action.

Take what you need. Leave the rest.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

🔔 Subscribe for more Daily Sobriety Motivation:

#addiction #recovery #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #sobriety #sober #love #soberlife #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #depression #alcoholism #addictionawareness #soberliving #drugaddiction #wedorecover #anxiety #onedayatatime #soberaf #addict #drugs #alcoholicsanonymous #rehab #selfcare #motivation #healing #steps #alcoholfree #selflove #addictiontreatment

A Small Part of A Great Whole

Recovery is personal, but it was never meant to be done alone.

In The Language of the Heart, Bill W. reminds us that every member of AA is an individual, yet we are also part of something much larger than ourselves. The strength of the fellowship comes from people who bring their own experience, strength, and hope — while remembering that the group always comes first.

When we learn to balance individuality with unity, something powerful happens: we become a small part of a great whole.

Today we’re talking about the relationship between the individual and the fellowship, and why both are essential to recovery.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

🔔 Subscribe for more Daily Sobriety Motivation:

#addiction #recovery #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #sobriety #sober #love #soberlife #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #depression #alcoholism #addictionawareness #soberliving #drugaddiction #wedorecover #anxiety #onedayatatime #soberaf #addict #drugs #alcoholicsanonymous #rehab #selfcare #motivation #healing #steps #alcoholfree #selflove #addictiontreatment

Life On Life’s Terms

One of the biggest shifts in recovery is learning to stop fighting reality.

For many of us, the struggle wasn’t just with alcohol — it was with life itself. We wanted things to go our way, people to behave the way we expected, and circumstances to change so we could feel okay.

Recovery teaches us something different: peace comes when we learn to accept life as it is, not as we wish it would be.

Today we’re talking about what it really means to live life on life’s terms and how acceptance, humility, and willingness help us navigate whatever the day brings.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

🔔 Subscribe for more Daily Sobriety Motivation:

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Help Keep The Daily Trudge Alive

There Is A Solution

The Big Book tells us that alcoholism isn’t just about drinking — it’s about a condition of mind and body that keeps bringing us back to the first drink.

But the message of this chapter is simple and powerful: there is a solution.

Men and women just like us were once hopeless, unable to control their drinking, and convinced nothing would work. Yet they found a new way to live through spiritual principles, honesty, and helping others.

Today we’re diving into the chapter There Is a Solution and talking about what the Big Book says the real problem is — and why the solution still works today.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

🔔 Subscribe for more Daily Sobriety Motivation:

#addiction #recovery #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #sobriety #sober #love #soberlife #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #depression #alcoholism #addictionawareness #soberliving #drugaddiction #wedorecover #anxiety #onedayatatime #soberaf #addict #drugs #alcoholicsanonymous #rehab #selfcare #motivation #healing #steps #alcoholfree #selflove #addictiontreatment

In this episode of RAW Recovery — a Trudging Together podcast, Dion sits down with comedian, author, and recovery speaker Mark Lundholm for a wide-ranging conversation about addiction, recovery, honesty, and the power of humor in difficult places.

Mark shares stories from decades in recovery and on the road speaking to treatment centers, prisons, and recovery communities across the country. Together they talk about the realities of early sobriety, the importance of being challenged in recovery, and why “first thought wrong” is something many recovering people continue to live with long after putting down the drink or drug.

The conversation moves through topics like sponsorship, codependency, relapse prevention, and the difference between trying to look good and actually getting better. Mark also shares insights from his work helping people navigate recovery, including the idea that “the more truth you tell, the more help you’ll get,” and why recovery often comes down to simple but powerful actions like honesty, willingness, and staying connected to others.

Along the way there’s plenty of humor, honesty, and the kind of real talk that happens when two people in recovery sit down and speak openly about the journey.

You can learn more about Mark Lundholm, find his upcoming show dates, and explore his work at marklundholm.com. His book “Shortcuts: Better Ways to Better Days” is also available on Amazon.

As always, this show is freely offered in the spirit of recovery:

Freely received, freely given.

A Daily Reprieve

Recovery isn’t something we earn once and keep forever. It’s something we live one day at a time.

Today’s reflection reminds us that sobriety is a daily gift. Each day we stay connected to the principles of recovery — honesty, humility, willingness, and helping others — we receive another day free from the obsession to drink.

When we stay spiritually fit and focused on today, we’re given a daily reprieve from the illness that once controlled our lives.

Today we’re talking about what it really means to live recovery one day at a time.

Trudging Together.

No one trudges alone. 🙏

🔔 Subscribe for more Daily Sobriety Motivation:

#addiction #recovery #mentalhealth #addictionrecovery #sobriety #sober #love #soberlife #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #depression #alcoholism #addictionawareness #soberliving #drugaddiction #wedorecover #anxiety #onedayatatime #soberaf #addict #drugs #alcoholicsanonymous #rehab #selfcare #motivation #healing #steps #alcoholfree #selflove #addictiontreatment