There’s a saying in recovery that you have to give it away in order to keep it. It sounds like a contradiction, but the longer I’m sober, the more I understand it.

In this episode of The Sober Living Podcast, I talk about why staying active in recovery matters to me and how service has become such an important part of my life. Whether it’s working with someone I sponsor, going to a meeting, putting out chairs, giving someone a ride, or simply answering the phone, there are countless opportunities to give back what was so freely given to me.

The strange thing is, I never seem to walk away with less.

I think of it like a spiritual cup. The more I pour from it, the more it seems to get filled back up.

But there’s another change in perspective I’ve been thinking about lately. I often say that I have to stay active in AA if I want to stay sober.

Maybe I should be saying that I get to.

I get to go to meetings. I get to help other alcoholics. I get to have people in my life who want me around. I’m alive, I’m sober, I’m free, and I have the opportunity to be useful to somebody else.

That’s not an obligation.

That’s a gift.

The Sober Living Podcast is a personal reflection on recovery, growth, spirituality, and learning how to live sober one day at a time.

I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent AA. The opinions and experiences shared here are my own.

Gary H. sits down with tThe Sober Living Podcast to talk about service!

Chad sits down with the Sober Living Podcast and talks about his sobriety journey.

Surrender

For years, I tried to control my drinking.

I made rules. I set limits. I convinced myself that next time would be different. But eventually, I reached a point where I had nothing left to try.

I surrendered.

In this episode of The Sober Living Podcast, I talk about what surrender has come to mean to me—not giving up on my life, but giving up on trying to fix my life my way.

I share the story of my last drink, almost backing out of my first AA meeting, and the last-minute decision to walk into a meeting that would change my life. I also talk about finding something in AA that I wasn't even looking for: belonging.

Somewhere along the way, surrender led me back to spirituality, and today I can look back at parts of my life that once seemed completely disconnected and wonder if God's hand was there all along.

Sometimes the help I needed was literally right around the corner.

In this episode:

• Trying—and failing—to control my drinking

• What surrender actually looked like for me

• Almost backing out of my first AA meeting

• Finding belonging and realizing, “I found my people”

• How AA helped me rediscover spirituality

• Learning to see God's hand in places I couldn't see it before

• Why surrender doesn't mean giving up

• Being in the right place at the right time

The Sober Living Podcast is a personal reflection on recovery, growth, spirituality, and learning how to live sober one day at a time.

I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent AA. The opinions and experiences shared here are my own.

The Sun Is Still Rising

When I first came into AA, I was spiritually bankrupt. Getting sober was a tremendous gift—but looking back, sobriety was only the beginning.

For a long time, I thought a spiritual awakening would be some huge, life-changing moment. I was waiting for a lightning bolt that would suddenly make everything click.

Instead, my spiritual awakening has been more like watching the sun come up.

At first, everything is dark. Then a little light appears over the horizon. Slowly, the world gets brighter, you begin to feel the warmth, and eventually you wonder how the hell you ever lived in so much darkness.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why sobriety was the beginning—not the destination

• The gifts recovery has brought into my life

• Why remembering the darkness helps me appreciate the light

• What truly scares me about the possibility of relapse

• The complicated relationship between gratitude and regret

• What The Dance means to me without quoting the song

• The AA Promise: “We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it”

• Why I wouldn’t choose the pain again—but don’t know that I would erase my past

• How service, relationships, spirituality, and this podcast have become part of my recovery

My spiritual awakening wasn’t something that happened once and ended. It continues every time I recognize God working in my life, help another person, remember how far I’ve come, or become a little more willing to keep growing.

The sun is still rising.

Stay sober, stay strong, and keep moving forward.

I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent AA. The opinions shared in this episode are my own. The Daily Reflection discussed in this episode was reworded in my own words to respect copyright.

Bondage of Self

“Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will.”

That line from the Third Step Prayer has always been one of my favorites. But what does it actually mean to be trapped by ourselves?

In this episode, I reflect on some of the ways fear, anxiety, ego, pride, and worrying about what other people think have held me back throughout my life. Sometimes the biggest thing standing in my way isn't another person or my circumstances. Sometimes it's me.

I also talk about my relationship with God, how my drinking affected my faith, and something I hadn't really considered before working on this episode: maybe God belongs on my amends list too.

Recovery hasn't made me fearless, and I still have plenty of work to do. But maybe being relieved of the bondage of self doesn't mean becoming fearless overnight. Maybe it means getting out of my own way, taking life one day at a time, and being willing to take the next right step even when I'm afraid.

It doesn't have to be perfect. Just honest.

I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent A.A. The opinions shared in this podcast are my own.

Thanks for listening. Stay sober, stay strong, and keep moving forward.

In today's episode guest host Greg W. interviews the host of the SLP Mike K.

Finding a New Perspective

It's easy to look back at the painful moments in my life and focus entirely on what someone else did to me. But recovery is teaching me to step back and try to see the whole picture.

In this episode, I reflect on resentment, old hurts, and what it means to look at my past from a more honest perspective. The people who have hurt me aren't just characters in my story. They have their own histories, fears, struggles, and wounds that I may know nothing about.

Understanding that doesn't excuse bad behavior or mean the hurt wasn't real. But it can help me find compassion while still being willing to ask the harder question: What was my part?

Maybe seeing the past differently doesn't mean changing what happened. Maybe it means removing some of the anger and emotion that have clouded my view so I can finally see the whole picture—including myself a little more clearly.

Today's reflection is inspired by the August 11 entry from Daily Reflections and a passage from page 140 of As Bill Sees It. The reading has been reworded in my own words.

I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent A.A. The opinions shared in this podcast are my own.

Thanks for listening, and as always... stay grateful, stay humble, and keep coming back.

When Helping Becomes Controlling

Have you ever found yourself trying to solve everyone else's problems while ignoring your own?

In this episode, I reflect on a lesson I'm still learning: just because recovery has changed my life doesn't mean it's my job to fix everyone else's.

I share how my ego often disguised itself as "helping," why I used to think I had the answers for other people, and how recovery has taught me the difference between sharing my experience and trying to control someone else's journey.

We also explore a simple but powerful question:

"Do you want advice, or do you just need to vent?"

Sometimes the most loving thing we can do isn't offer the perfect answer—it's simply be present, listen, and trust that God is already at work in someone else's life.

Today's reflection is inspired by the July 28 entry from Daily Reflections and a passage from Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age. The reading has been reworded in my own words.

I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, but I do not represent A.A. The opinions shared in this podcast are my own.

Thanks for listening, and as always... stay grateful, stay humble, and keep coming back.

Today's reflection is about one of the greatest gifts recovery has given me: peace of mind.For years, I struggled with anxiety, depression, and trying to escape my own thoughts through alcohol. I believed drinking was helping, but in reality, it only made everything worse.In this episode, I share part of my own journey with anxiety, how getting help became an important step in my recovery, and why today's reading reminded me of the Promises found in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.