March 13

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When we drink poison hoping that the other person will die, that is the true definition of resentment. Of course, our resentment rarely hurts the other person, but it certainly eats away at our poor little fucking black hearts. People say, “Let it go,” all the time, but how exactly is that achieved? They make it sound so fucking simple. Unfortunately, in some cases, it’s not that simple. A lifetime of hate, anger, hurt, and upset makes dealing with some resentments nearly impossible. Sometimes, we need a therapist, a sponsor, group therapy, self-care, books, prayer, study, meetings, observation, meditation, self-help, or a cat or dog to cry with (some of us have a lot of dogs). Forgiveness is needed, and it can take a lot of soul-searching, pain, and compassion to begin to forgive. Keep trying. Keep exploring. Keep pushing your emotional limits. Your mental health is on the line. Your happiness is in peril.

Reflections

When was the last time someone did something to you that you absolutely fucking hated?

Daily Challenge

Is it all not working? Try something different.

March 12

We know you’re depressed. Your car won’t start. The fucking manager is busting your balls on the daily. The courts still want their payments, and your attorney was a no-show. What the fuck! It all seems so overwhelming! And when you share with your best friend that you are thinking of selling everything and heading West, all they can do is bitch about the traffic. You want the fuck out of the madness of life! But do you really? And where is “out,” anyway? No matter where you go, there you are. YOU will always be there. So, maybe it’s not the car, job, attorney, or traffic. Perhaps the thing that needs to be worked on is you.

Reflections

What can you do today to better prepare yourself for your life ahead? What steps do you need to take?

Daily Challenge

Do someone else’s chores today. Make the day just a little bit easier for someone, somehow.

March 11

What is your cause? What gets you out of bed in the morning? For some, it’s selflessness; for others, it’s selfishness. What is yours? If you’re lucky, you have found something larger than yourself that serves all of humanity in the most significant way possible. As you get - and remain - sober, you will find your cause, too. It may be something simple, like showing up to a meeting, or as grand as sheltering and feeding the homeless in your hometown. It could occupy your every waking moment, or it could be something you do for an hour on Wednesdays. Do it with an open heart today, no matter what it is or when you do it. Let go of the bullshit today.

Reflections

Do you know your cause?

Daily Challenge

Tell five people you are close to about your cause. Ask if they can help you do it.

March 10

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca

These kinds of quotes date back more than two thousand years, and we are still so fucking dense that it just can’t sink in! How true of a statement is this? We know that, after years of research, it is scientifically proven that worrying works! Do you know how we know this? Because almost 99.9 percent of things we worry about never happen. Think about it. All the things that you worry about never come to pass. So, it must work! Right? Not really. Sure, there may be a few things that you can point at and say, “I knew that would happen,” but in reality, you worried about much more than that one thing, and none of it ever happened.

Reflections

How many things or situations are you worried about today? What can you do (if anything) to change the outcome?

Daily Challenge

Every time you walk into a new room today, stop and smile. If someone is in the room, say, “Hi!”

March 9

Success is not measured by the size of your fucking television. There are more important things than being entertained. Maybe you haven’t taken the time to evaluate your daily habits or take stock of the life that sobriety has afforded you. Have you looked around lately? You might be wasting it. We didn’t come this far to just “get sober,” did we? Somewhere along the line, there was a calling in you. That still, quiet voice that rises up inside you, jumps out of your chest, and whispers in your ear, “You are fucking better than this.” And you know it’s true. But for some unknown reason, you turn on the game, channel surf, eat a bag of Doritos, and nod off watching Late Night Show one more fucking time.

Reflections

When was the last time you had a talk with your inner voice? When was the last time you heard the call?

Daily Challenge

Pay attention the next time you hear your inner voice calling you to do something. Send yourself a text and put it on your to-do list.

Summary

In this episode of SoberPod, Chelsea and Carl discuss various topics, including gratitude, positive feedback, and worrying. They also read a passage from their book '366 F***ing Days Sober' and reflect on the message. The conversation highlights the importance of staying positive, managing worries, and finding humor in recovery. In this conversation, Carl and Chelsea discuss the impact of worry and fear on their lives, particularly in relation to their experiences with unemployment and addiction. They share their struggles with unemployment and the challenges they faced in managing their worries. They also explore various techniques for managing worry, such as breathing exercises and the serenity prayer. The conversation delves into the connection between worry and addiction, highlighting how worry can drive addictive behaviors. They emphasize the importance of acceptance and action in overcoming worry and finding peace. Overall, the conversation highlights the transformative power of sobriety in changing one's thinking and approach to worry.

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March 8

There was a time when you used to get off on the drama, and now you are like, “fuck that.” The gossip, the who-did-what-to-who, and now so-and-so is going to get pissed and do some shit. Do you remember that shit? Fucking children! It was the most childish shit. And, even so, people do this today in suits and ties, skirts, and dress shoes in the workplace. Just because we get jobs and become adults does not mean that these behaviors don’t still exist. They are only disguised better. Some people just love the fucking drama, and they need this shit so they don’t have to look too closely at themselves. If they are all focused on outside problems, they will never have to look at the real problem, which is themselves. But don’t tell them that. They will lose their minds!

Reflections

Are you involved in the drama or the gossip? Do you join in or change the conversation when someone starts to gossip?

Daily Challenge

If someone engages you in the drama, walk away.

March 7

Are you a people-pleaser? Yes! Yes, you are! Shut the fuck up! You like to think you aren’t, but you are. We all want to be liked. It’s in our human nature. Go back to when humans hunted in groups, our tribes were small, and we all played a part in the tribe’s survival. If you fucked something up, you were exiled or cast out. You were punished. Not being “liked” could mean death or lack of safety and food. Not being accepted meant you lived a lonely existence. I mean, fuck, think about our lives today in high school and how important that shit is to a teenager. What about being loved? Relationships can be really painful, too. It’s human nature to want to please others to a certain degree. We get a great benefit from it. The problem comes when we have not taken the time to really know ourselves and define our needs as it relates to others, and our desire becomes blown out of proportion. We put too much emphasis on others and forget all about ourselves.

Reflections

Do you know what you need? Do you know what you really desire?

Daily Challenge

Memorize this quote from Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

March 6

Do you find yourself mad at everyone and everything? All the fucking time? Can’t sit still? Is your mind racing today? Anxious? In that case, you are probably in that state of restlessness, irritability, and discontent that we all find ourselves in every once in a while. It happens. A bad attitude can sometimes be a sign of something deeper. It could be the beginning of the end of your sobriety, freedom, or life. Heavy shit? Of course, it is. But sometimes, we have this attitude of “not me.” Or that we have our shit together and will make it through this rough patch like all the other times. We think we will get by again with what we have always done because it seems familiar, or we made it to a meeting/therapist visit yesterday, so we don’t need another one today.

Reflections

Am I relying on the work I did in recovery yesterday to keep me sober? Or am I doing the work I need to do today?

Daily Challenge

“Stop. Collaborate and listen.” You might need to take a timeout on these days. Cancel the “thing,” whatever the “thing” is, and take a fucking break. Re-Fucking-Lax!

March 5

Some of us have lived through a shit-ton of stuff. We have made it through dysfunction, abuse, death, poverty, incarceration, addiction, mental illness, and anything else. It’s a miracle that we didn’t all blow our brains out long ago - some of us even tried that. We must remember, each day, that we are the lucky ones. We are the survivors. We get to live to fight another day and possibly thrive. It’s not easy. Nobody ever said that being sober would be easy, but they did say that it would be better than before. That “our lives would take on new meaning,” and we would be able to “live two lives in one lifetime.” So, we get busy living.

Reflections

How are you living today? What are you doing today for your recovery?

Daily Challenge

Participate in your recovery by joining an online, physical, or phone group of people also seeking recovery.