RECOVERY MODE PODCAST

"Every time the doorbell rang, I was afraid there'd be someone telling me my son was dead."

Expectations weigh on many of us, pressuring us to act, speak, dress and live a certain way. For Debbie Sledge, most of this pressure came from her country club parents, who demanded she present an image that would make them look good. Instead, she ran the other way, and asserted her independence with choices that did not fit with who she really was. But what drove her to the Steps was exactly what drove her away from the plans her parents had for her - control. Controlling her own life, and later her kids’ lives. She finally realized she had to “bury and have a funeral” for what she wanted most in life so she could be free to live it.

“I’m inherently worth, but I need help.”

In this episode, we come to the first true action step in regards to our coping mechanisms: asking our Higher power to help us let go of the survival strategies that have weighed on our lives for too long. We learn to replace them with healthier responses that meet those same needs, but in a way that only benefits us.

“I was leading a double life…and then I made a decision…[meth] was who I was, and I wasn’t leading a double life anymore.”

It’s easy to label addicts in our minds as “those people,” totally separate from “normal” people, which we convince ourselves we are. But all addiction finds its roots in the same kinds of struggles.

In this interview with Kenny Green, we hear how his journey that led him through over a decade of meth addiction began with something many of us can understand - wanting more attention and understanding from his father than he could get. His story revealed glimpses of how people pleasing led him to make decisions that distracted him from dealing with the brokenness in his heart and life. But on the floor of an isolation prison cell, something incredible - even supernatural - occurred to alter the trajectory of his life.

“When I got to Austin, I stopped doing the things I needed to do to stay well…and I realized, I’m kind of good at [playing poker], maybe I can make money this way.”

We dive into Josh Jones’ story in this episode, which begins with cocaine, shifts gears into gambling, touches on alcohol, and circles back to a cocaine addiction that nearly takes his life. He was looking for adventure and a fun community, but nearly ended up in jail, a hospital, or a grave.

“The same choice could have completely opposite outcomes. But I don’t know, only my Higher Power knows. So I have to choose to surrender.”

In this episode, we move on to Step 3, exploring what it looks like to surrender to our Higher Power in our daily lives, even if we don’t fully understand that Power. So whether it’s setting boundaries in your work/life balance, choosing others’ needs or our own, or finding a new perspective in marriage, our Higher Power can guide us to make healthy choices in every situation if we can choose to trust Him.