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We are into our third year!  To kick it off, we invited Pete B back to talk about the history of Narcotics Anonymous.  If you know about 12 step groups, I bet you know a lot of Alcoholics Anonymous, but what do you know about NA?  Well, we knew next to nothing.  Pete B was involved with writing the original text of NA back in the early 1980s.  Who better to talk about how NA started.

Like many 12 step groups, the first NA groups used the AA Big Book and their steps to get clean.  But it was a long road to the founding of one branch in the 1950's to a more structured program in the 70's.  It took until the early 80's for NA to get their own literature and that's when growth happened.

You'll love this oral history of NA from Pete B.  He's so grateful for his program and decades of sobriety, he will pull you into the story of this other fellowship.

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Thank you for supporting the Sober Friends Podcast for 100 Episodes!  We started this in November 2020 as a way of spreading the message of hope that recovery is possible, when outside meetings were still very hard to find, in person.  We will continue to spread the message that sobriety is possible, no matter your path to get there.

For our 100th episode, Matt J takes this one solo, talking about his 25th college reunion in October.  Matt's college experience was a wet one, full of booze, drunkenness and underachievement.  Post college, since 2014, it's been a dry one, living alcohol free and a life second to none.

Matt got together with his college friends, the ones who were the highest quality friends one could have.  Yet his broken mindset caused him to chase for something else.  Those who would improve his social standing.  Those who would find him girls and popularity.  Always chasing, never realizing where he was.

Matt's trip back to his campus and getting back together with his old friends made him realize a lot of what he missed, what he had what was really important in life.

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What does it mean when we hear people say, "Don't Stop Before The Miracle Happens?"  It means toughing it out during the hard times, now matter how long it takes.  Because if you do the work long enough, you will be able to handle life on life's terms, without taking a drink.

On this episode, Matt, Steve and John talk about their own experiences with the impatience it takes to get to the point where you look back and say, "I don't need that drink anymore to deal with this problem," and how there are other parts of life that require patience, that we have to summon all our strength to get.

Cantina Blues - Take the Lead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100407

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“I am responsible, when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there, and for that I am responsible.”

-AA Responsibility Statement

Steve C says that his program of recovery is never better than when he’s working with another alcoholic and he has a much better sobriety.  It brings us to the question, “Why do we do this podcast?”

We get together each week not just for the glory and riches (there are none), but to find another way to bring recovery to the newcomer.  With the pandemic, meetings shut down and those in need had a hard time finding a path to recovery.  Podcasts are one of those ways the message can be shared with someone sober curious.

On this week’s podcast, Matt, John and Steve share their own personal message on why they do this podcasts and the recovery rewards they receive.

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Pete B joins us again this week for more of his emotional journey from drug addiction.   Pete discusses how his friend George got him to come back again after some of the guys in the group said Pete would not last.  George became his sponsor and was able to guide him on a path of 40 years of sobriety.  In this episode, Pete discusses:

• Getting involved in NA service
• NA having to stop using the AA Literature, and getting involved in writing the first literature
• Spending weekends in jail camps and reading Bill W's story, and feeling the same feelings of imposter syndrome Bill did.
• Turning your greatest shame into your greatest strengths through the work of the steps.
• A sponsor's job is to connect their sponsee to a higher power.

You'll likely get emotional when Pete does.  We were so lucky to record a little bit of history of the start of NA literature.

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Pete B is a veteran of the Navy.  His mother was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and father belonged to Al-Anon.  Pete's defense mechanism was to be the family joker.  Later on, he joined the military and got into a lot of jams due to his use of drugs and alcohol, including a black out in Israel.  

This episode is incredibly emotional and Pete is very vulnerable with his experiences, including an out of body experience and the credit he gives his best friend from bringing him back, only to lose his friend a few days later.

After times in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous, Pete found relief in Narcotics Anonymous, getting past some skepticism.

In Part 2, Pete talks about Narcotics Anonymous having to move past AA literature and his part in creating the first real NA writings.

Over the next two weeks, you'll be hearing about some powerful recovery talk and vulnerability with emotions with Pete B.

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Kelly G shared her story in Episode 44.  She comes back a year later and now over 600 days sober and shares how she's continued to grow in recovery.  In our quest to know more about the different ways people get sober, Kelly is not a member of AA and tells us her method of recovery.

• Lots and lots of Sober Podcasts
• Connecting with folks on Instagram
• Cafe RE via Recovery Elevator

Kelly's first appearance in Episode 44 was one of our most listened to and well received episodes.  The time we spent talking to Kelly went fast and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Check out Kelly Giannuzzi on Instagram.

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"God, grant us the serenity, to accept the things we can not change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

"And thats the hard part."
-Jim A.  A Wise Old Timer

Change has come to Matt's place of employment and knowing it was coming was really scary.  Was he going to lose his job?  Turns out, no.  He survived a change to the business and others were not so lucky.  It got John and Matt thinking about change and how it trips up alcoholics and those in recovery.

We drunks love to control EVERYTHING!  If things just went the way we wanted it to go and if everyone just did what we wanted them to do, things would be perfect!

Right?

Matt believes our own emotions and actions are under our control and nothing else.

John believes control eludes us in every way.

Who has control?  Our higher power. 

This episode is a reminder that if we accept what we can and can't control, it's easier to go with the flow and find serenity.

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Stress is difficult to handle before getting sober.  We used to drink to handle how we felt about stress.  When alcohol is removed, we have to find another way of dealing with stress so it does not overwhelm us and cause us to shut down.

A friend reached out to Matt, venting and for advice on how to handle stress.  It helped Matt to hear his friend's issue and made him think too.  What causes us stress and what is a healthy way of dealing with it?

On this edition of the Sober Friends Podcast, we address Coping with Stress in Sobriety.

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Chris from the UK sponsored this episode and bought us 3 coffees at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberfriendspod.  By purchasing 3 coffees, Chris is ensuring the show will be available for the new guy and anyone needing to hear the message the recovery is possible.

Lisa Gray is the founder of A Promise to Jordan.  Lisa lost her son Jordan Arakelian on June 30, 2018, at the age of 24.  As Lisa held Jordan for the last time, she made a promise to him to fight against the disease of opioid addition.  Less than two months later, the first meeting of A Promise to Jordan happened.

In this episode, Lisa tells us about her family and the void Jordan left.  She discusses taking to people at Jordan's funeral about the organization she was planning and how the community of Simsbury, CT came to her aid.  Lisa talks about the hardship that COVID brought in 2020 and how the organization overcame funding uncertainty to thrive.

Also on this episode:

• Lisa discusses medical aids to sobriety
• Her focus on getting Narcan in as many places as possible
• Creating fun sober events in the community so there are safe places for people in recovery and those considering sobriety.

We know many of you listening live outside of Connecticut.  We highly recommend supporting Lisa's cause by donating generously to A Promise to Jordan.  If you are like us, you know too many lives that ended far too early from the opioid crisis.

Cantina Blues - Take the Lead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100407

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.