Chapters

• Intro 00:00
• Topic 02:23
• This Week in Recovery 47:48
• Phone Calls 53:51

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• Sustaining Partners - Join by making monthly donations for one year. You will receive recovered podcast merchandise, like tee shirts, coffee mugs, and water bottles. Your name will also be announced each month you donate.
• Episode Sponsors: Join by making a one-time donation. Your name will be announced as an episode sponsor each time you donate.
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Recovery Literature Links (Amazon Affiliate Links):

• The Big Book - Alcoholics Anonymous
• Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
• Worry Less Now - Co-Host Gigi L.
• Powerless But Not Helpless - Co-Host Buddy C.
• 10 Years Sober - Listener Hannah B.
• When Bad Things Happen to Good People - Harold S. Kushner

Contact

• [email protected]
• Recovered Podcast Website

Show Notes:

Welcome back to Recovered, the podcast where we walk the Twelve Steps with honesty, humor, and heart. If you've been following along, you know we've just completed the "searching and fearless moral inventory" of Step 4. Now, we're moving into the crucial action step that turns our private work into public freedom: Step 5—Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. It's one thing to write out the truth in the privacy of a notebook, but it's an entirely different and often terrifying experience to speak it out loud. Today, we're diving deep into why this act of radical honesty is the true spiritual turning point, the moment we stop holding onto our secrets and finally start releasing the heavy burden of the past.

The fear surrounding Step 5 is natural; it's the fear of judgment, of exposure, and of being truly seen. Yet, the overwhelming experience of those who work the program is that this step is not about punishment or shame; it is the moment of pure freedom. Sharing our inventory with another person breaks the destructive cycle of isolation that is the core of addiction and self-will. When we hear our deepest resentments and character defects spoken into the light, they lose their power. Join us as we discuss how choosing the right person, navigating vulnerability, and finally making that admission clears the way for Steps Six and Seven, transforming self-knowledge into actual change and preparing us to be entirely ready for a spiritual awakening.

Sustaining Partners: Amy, Jim, Lois, Schez, Larry

Episode Sponsors: Claudine