In this edition of the way out we’ve got a truly wonderful and insightful interview with Kelli Martin, a dear friend of mine whom I had the pleasure of meeting inside the rooms of one of my favorite 12-Step fellowships. There is an old saying in the rooms of recovery to describe someone who has allowed their sobriety and recovery to permeate their entire being, mind body and soul. It goes like so “You know, that so and so wears their sobriety like a loose fitting garment” – and that’s exactly the feeling I get every time Kelli and I get the opportunity to talk Recovery. Kelli’s journey to recovery was not easy, perfect, or always pretty – she had to persevere through some incredibly difficult stuff as a child. She had to shed old ideas about God and life that were not serving her. She had to come back to the rooms after a wicked relapse and be intentional about reconnecting to a higher power and getting involved in the 12-Step program and fellowship. She had to find peace with the fact that her two adult children still, after nearly a decade of sobriety, will not have anything to do with her. Kelli’s story proves to us that we can have meaningful, enduring, and satisfying lives in recovery that are not perfect fairy tale endings. You’re in for a real treat way out casters – Kelli is the real deal and her story delivers an undeniably rich combination of spiritual truth, relatable experiences, and practical wisdom we can all apply to our own recovery tool kits, so Listen Up.

The Other Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity