Sobriety Rocks

Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! I’m your host Kirk Waterman, today we talk about Starting Over

Most of us in addiction recovery started over many times before we arrived here. My new beginnings usually followed some ugly wipe-out, full of self-imposed suffering, pain, hurt, and turmoil.
  
 When I finally made it to the rooms, you all told me that if I truly wanted a fresh start, all I had to do was follow through with the spiritual plan of action outlined in the steps. I didn’t believe it, but by time I finished the steps, my depressing past and anxiety riddled future, were distant memories.
  
 What began with zero belief in anything to do with recovery, turned into belief in the people, then belief in the recovery programs, and finally, belief in some God I hadn’t believed in before. After all was said and done, I evened started believing in myself.
  
 Wow!  Recovery, and the new beginning I thought was the end of my life, turned out to be the golden ticket of starting over!
  
 Wherever you are on your journey, know that you don’t have to go out and drink, use, or do anything else. You can start over now, and make today, be the best new beginning ever.

Today we close with a brief level up meditation. Thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! I’m your host Kirk Waterman, today we talk about My Life, My Responsibility

Allanah Hunt said “It is only when you take responsibility for your life that you discover how powerful you truly are.”

I grew up thinking everything was someone else’s fault. I had no idea that by blaming everyone else, I was giving them all my power, and making them responsible for my happiness.

Thankfully, after years of condemning everyone I could, I wound up in an A.A. group that wouldn’t listen to my accusations. They told me that the day I moved out of my parents’ home, was the day to quit pointing fingers and take responsibility for my own life. 

They also told me that the moment I take responsibility for my life, everything in my life would change for the better. Wow! I was finally able to find peace as I realized that I had created the conditions of my life, and that I had the power to change them. 

All these years later, I know that responsibility is a gift and a grace I receive, not an obligation.

I may not be able to change any outside circumstance, but I can change myself, and that is blessing!

If you’re an addict or an alcoholic like me, personal responsibility is the first ingredient of true peace, happiness and freedom. After that it’s decisive optimism, consistent action, and abundant service.

Here’s to taking personal accountability for our lives and having complete control of our destinies!

Today we close with a simple, but effective breathing meditation to help bring calm our bodies, our hearts, and minds. 

I’m Kirk Waterman, thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! I’m your host Kirk Waterman, today we talk about Your Worst Critic and Your Biggest Fans!

Jeff Bezos said ““If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting.”

People loved, praised, and supported me most of my youth. I had lots of fans, and very few critics. But as my drinking, using and bad behavior escalated, I alienated more and more people, until one day I was all alone, with no more fans, just me, my biggest critic.

It wasn’t long before drugs and alcohol wouldn’t take away the pain of my miserable, isolated, lonely existence, that I reached out for help. And oh, did I get help. 

I told large groups of people the pain and madness I had brought into my and other people’s lives. They laughed and called me courageous. I shared with them the misery of being homeless and not being able to stop using, drinking, lying, cheating, and stealing. They laughed even more, then called me brave.

Who were these people? I had been beating myself up, talking poorly to myself about myself for a long time, and they were telling me to ‘be easy on myself’ and to ‘quit beating myself up’.

They even showed me a couple of A.A. prayers that I thought were for when I was mad at other people and had me say them for myself. Then they taught me how to clean up all the messes I had made, and how to help people coming in behind me do the same for themselves. 

When I got to the end of the steps and looked back, it was like my dirty, dark past had been cleaned up by a professional cleaning crew. Not only that, I had quit criticizing myself and everyone around me, had rooms full of fans, and had become your biggest fan too.

It’s hard to keep going when no one is clapping for you, and no one is supporting you. But, when we jump in the middle of the pack, do the work, and start helping others do the work too, the critics go away and the fans come out of the woodwork.

Wherever you are, whatever you’ve been doing, join us, so you can stop being your worst critic and get a room full of fans!

Today we close with a brief, relaxation meditation.

I’m Kirk Waterman, thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! I’m your host Kirk Waterman, today we talk about Turning it over.

Tony Robbins said,“Set goals, take precise action, and turn the outcome over. That’s one way to turn the invisible into the visible.”

I did a lot when I was young. But as I got older, fear grew stronger and stronger, and I needed to drink and use to get anything meaningful accomplished. 

Finally, I reached the point where I didn’t care whether I lived or died. There was nothing more I could do, and I thought the world would be better off without me.

Then and only then, with the sincerest plea I could make, I begged the universe for help, and turned everything I had over, to whatever God may be out there. 

Sure enough, from death’s doorstep and the gates of hell, I was rescued and given a second chance at life. And what a chance it’s turned out to be.

What started out as treatment for an insidious physical, mental, and spiritual disease, turned into a blessed life full of peace, love, happiness, and laughter.

If you have anything going on that isn’t suiting you, I urge you to turn it over, and join us. It will be well worth the ride!

Today we close with a simple breathing meditation to bring us relaxation and comfort.

Thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Recovery Work Isn’t Only For Emergencies.

Lucia Berlin said,“Fear, poverty, alcoholism, and loneliness are terminal illnesses. Emergencies, in fact.”

During my drinking and using days, I always had some type of crisis going on. I acted like they were big emergencies, hijacked everyone around me, and got them to buy in to my self-created drama.
  
 Truth be told, when I was in my cups, I fled from your emergencies. My biggest emergency was, I kept burning down my own life. Thankfully, when all that was left of that life was a smoldering pile of embers, I found the rooms of recovery.
  
 Once here, I thought I was going to learn how to control my drinking and using without letting life get to emergency crisis mode. Instead, I found happy people, walking through life with grace and dignity, not needing to drink or use drugs to manage anything.
  
 So, I stuck around, did what they did, and got similar results. I not only learned tools to mitigate my future emergencies, but to also bring peace, love, and strength to other people’s emergencies.
  
 Today, I know that foxhole prayer, meditation, and service will occasionally help during an emergency. But, when we stick together, and do the work consistently, everything we ever need is available to us, anytime we need it.

We close with the 11th step st francis prayer meditation to help bring us more peace and love to our hearts and minds.

I’m Kirk Waterman, thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! I’m your host Kirk Waterman, today we to talk about Ducks...

Timothy Radman said,“If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it could be a really ugly swan.”

During my party days I thought reacting to whatever was going on around me, was a strength. The reality was, I was an overemotional drunk, who no longer helped in a crisis, I became the crisis.
  
 Once I finally made it to recovery, instead of finding a bunch of ugly ducklings like me, there were rooms full of beautiful swans. Happy and useful, graciously gliding through the waters of life.
 
 Little did I know, while you all looked calm and serene, you were dedicating nearly every moment of your lives to recovery. Not only your recovery, but the recovery of lots of other people. And the results were beautiful!
  
 So beautiful, that I started to do what you were doing. A little at first, then a little more... Slowly but surely, I started feeling the same peace and calm you had. So much so, that I took to recovery the same way you did, like a duck to water.
  
 All these years later, taking consistent action in recovery is just like being a duck. While we appear calm on the surface, we’re always paddling like the dickens underneath.
 
 Today I say, let’s not just quack like a duck, let’s do all the work, so we can soar like an eagle.

We close with a brief 12-stp meditation to help bring us patience, tolerance, kindliness and love.

I’m Kirk Waterman, thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Aloha and welcome to the Sobriety Rocks Podcast! Today we talk about Deeply Rooted Treatment and Recovery 

Marcus Garvey said“People without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture, are like trees without roots.”

All my years of drinking and using brought me the big fat sum, of an addicted, miserable life. Thankfully, when that life finally became unbearable, I was brought to a very successful addiction treatment and recovery facility. 

The specialists there helped me identify, treat, and begin to heal from the deeply rooted trauma and pain that had been fueling my life for years. They also taught me tools to continue to heal, recover, and successfully walk through life without having to drink, use, or act out.

All these years later I’ve been blessed with a long, amazing life in recovery, using the tools I learned way back then. If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also been fortunate to teach others to use those same tools to treat and recover from the deeply rooted issues that drove them into addiction.

No matter where you are, what you’ve done, or what’s been done to you, the tools to treat and recover from the deeply rooted issues that fueled your addiction, are here for you too. 

Today we close with a courage meditation to help bring us strength and courage. 

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Today we talk about Using Your Time Wisely!

Debasish Mridha said“Always keep in mind how you can best use this time that you call life.”

During my first year of recovery, I was lucky to find a job that provided me with a set schedule. It allowed me to establish the consistent recovery schedule my sponsor recommended, which he said, included the most essential activities needed for me to recover. 
 
Since I drank and took drugs daily, my sponsor also had me doing as many of the program related activities daily too. Thankfully, he also stressed the importance of making time for self-care and relaxation.
 
So, after finally giving in to what seemed like unnecessarily strict time management, I began to notice that my life was getting exponentially better and I was really enjoying this new sobriety.
 
Don’t get me wrong, there were many times over that first year when I began to deviate from my sponsor’s plan. But each time, something unpleasant seemed to happen to someone around me in the program, and it reinforced I was on the right path. 
 
Thankfully, I stuck to his plan and completed the twelve steps. 
 
Wouldn’t you know it, alcohol and drugs were removed from my life, my spirit healed significantly, and I found a way of life that worked far better than any I had tried before, and I had tried a lot.
 
All these clean and sober years later, you can look at the course of my life and see that when I’ve been most successful and most content, I’ve used the same “first things first” time management plan my sponsor taught me in my first year of recovery.
 
Sure, we all know that using time wisely is an essential component of any truly successful life. But in addiction recovery, it’s even more vital for us to prioritize responsibilities, avoid distractions, set goals, take care of ourselves, and use our time wisely if we want to have any chance for true peace and happiness.
 
Whatever you do, I hope you use your time wisely, so you can maximize your chance for success, have a healthier, more fulfilling life, and watch your dreams turn into plans, your plans turn into goals, and your goals turn into magnificent accomplishments.
 
Today we close with a brief mantra meditation to keep us grounded in the present moment. 

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Today we talk about Making The Great Days Great and The Bad Days Even Better

Lawrence Welk said“There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.”

When I was drinking and using, I wanted every day to be a good day. But the further I fell into my alcoholism and addiction, the fewer good days I had, and the more I needed to drink and use just to make it through the bad days.

Thankfully, when I finally made it to the rooms of recovery, the people here knew that bad days were an inevitable part of life. For addicts and alcoholics, it's especially important to make the most of the bad days, as they so often can be a catalyst for growth and change. 

They also taught me that bad days were an opportunity for self-reflection, a chance to practice coping skills, and a means of gaining perspective. When I was having a bad day I could take a step back, examine my thoughts and emotions, and gain a better understanding of myself and what's causing my discomfort.

When any of us are having a bad day, it can feel like the world is against us. However, taking a step back and gaining perspective can help us realize that our challenges are temporary and that things will get better. Bad days can also help us stay motivated, keep us moving forward, build confidence and better equip us to handle future challenges.

If you’re struggling today, you can always slow down, take a walk, say a prayer, call someone less fortunate than you, and do whatever you can to make the most of today.

Remember, bad days are crucial for our personal growth and well-being. When we embrace our challenges, we develop stronger coping skills, gain new perspectives, and become more resilient.

Here’s to making the great days great and the bad days even better!

Today we’ll close with a short breathing meditation to bring us peace and clarity.

Thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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Today we talk about Foundational Anchors.

Steven Chuks said“A man that has not dealt with his foundation cannot deal with another man's foundation.”
 
 When I was very young, my parents and God were my anchors. But, once my parents’ actions began to negatively affect me, I quit believing in them or their God, and began looking for new anchors to keep me grounded. 
 
First it was athletics, then it was my girlfriend and her family, then it was my job, and eventually it became drugs, alcohol, and my “party” friends. But, as I fell further and further into my addiction, the anchors I relied upon slowly began to disappear. Before you knew it, all that was left were alcohol and drugs.
 
Then, one day everything quit working and the suboptimal life I was living was no longer bearable. Thankfully, it was then, that I was brought to the rooms of 12 step recovery. 

Here I found people who had once been just like me, that were using the 12 steps, some higher power, and a tight community to build lives far better than any I had. So, I did the same things they were doing to build a new foundation for my life. 

All these years later, the 12 steps, the recovery community, service, and a higher power, are still the foundational anchors for my life. They’ve helped me successfully navigate every challenge put in front of me, provided me a sense of purpose, meaning and fulfillment, and brought me peace, happiness, and contentment, regardless of any circumstances I’ve been in.
 
If your life is amazing and your foundational anchors are properly in place, keep doing what you’re doing. But, if your life isn’t as amazing as you’d like, or your foundational anchors aren’t as secure as they need to be. Grab ahold of us and use ours, so you can live a wonderful too.

Today we close with one of the foundational meditations I learned in my first year of recovery, the St Francis 11th Step Prayer. 

Thank you for joining us. Aloha!

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