Oct-sober Recovery Podcast

Ep.22 Courtney

Courtney agreed to come in and record after we met at on open speaker meeting of Recovery.   She is a woman who lives in the steps and clearly practices the principles on a daily basis.

Ep.21 My friend Shawn visits and shares his story

SHAWN talks about alcoholism and addiction and says that it’s the 12 Steps of AA and Honesty that keeps him sober. He says that he has to put Recovery before ANY-THING.

We discuss the spouses and family of addicts/alcoholics and the thin veil between going to meetings to stay sober and participating in family life....

and EGO.

Shawn says he’s at the point where he does not care what anybody thinks about him. He shares his experience of being in and out of state and county prisons his whole life

We talk a little bit about the fact that the business of recovery is a bit disturbing.

Shaw is willing to do whatever it takes for him to stay sober. I’ve seen it first hand. I hope you enjoy this and hopefully it helps someone. It helped me.

 

 

Ep.20 My friend Zack joins me....

My friend Zack recently received his 1 year medallion and says he never thought that being sober was an attainable thing for him. He’s one of my younger friends in Recovery. The work he does in the program is directly linked to the quality of his sobriety.

He tells his story about growing up and then hits on one of the most relevant topics with young people today, Adderall abuse. This drug scares the hell out of me and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about this subject with Zack.

We have a conversation about gambling and gambling addiction which I find very interesting to discuss.

Zack talks about essential parts of his early recovery which included getting multiple 24 Hour Chips at different meetings, being open to suggestions and attending 24 hour Alkathons during the holidays.

Listen close...you can hear his JOY. I have fun talking to Zack...I hope you enjoy this

 

Ep.19 My talented friend Karen joins me on the podcast

Karen tried to quit drinking on her own before she came into AA...she knew there was a problem but she couldn’t stop.  
Karen and I have a commonality...Alcohol energized us, it amped us up like caffeine does, or a red bull would would do.  
She says she didn’t really drink in high school or college and didn’t really like it because she didn’t like to be out of control. But when she eventually started, she says she finally found “IT”...the way she wanted to feel.

It was wonderful to sit and chat with Karen...I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ep. 18 Kenny

Kenny has been sober 31+ years

KEN says he grew up in a pool hall and has no regrets about that. He and friends got a hold of some liquor when he was 14/15 years old. He says “from that point, the koo-koo was out of the clock.”
He says he had the mental obsession part of the disease right from the start. He couldn’t wait to do it again!

Kenny says he drank past embarrassment.
When he finally “got it”,  Kenny says “I got back to AA and someone would talk to me and take my mind off of ME !“
Kenny says “take this disease out of the shadows”  I just love that!

Some of Kenny’s notable lines include but are certainly not limited to:  -“Nobody comes into recovery on the wings of victory”
-“The correlation between the number of meetings you go to and how you feel is not by accident”
-“I’ve rarely seen anyone walk through the doors saying ‘I’ve got a pretty good life but I think I’ll get sober!”’

Kenny is a luminary around the halls of AA. I love the guy.
I hope you benefit from the content he provided us by showing up and recording.

Ep. 17 Welcome Andrea !!!!

Andrea is a friend whom I always enjoy listening to when she shares. This is the first time I’ve heard her story. 

She started using alcohol and drugs in her late teens but up until that point she says she had a lot of unhealthy ways of dealing with life and a lot of depression and fear. She was screaming out for help and was suicidal long before she even drank. Andrea says she always had an obsession of some sort going on. Her parents and her doctors were trying every way they could to help her. By all accounts , Andrea’s parents are angels. 

She says that today, for her, there is no chemical solution for what she has. I absolutely loved when she said that showing up to meetings is THE HEARTBEAT OF HER RECOVERY. 

She picked up not because things were bad, at one point she picked up because things were good....baffling!

 

Andrea is such a strong woman...I’m so impressed with this young lady.  She is going to help a lot of people. You’re gonna be better off for listening to this. 

 

Andrea spoke about the halfway house in Salisbury where she spent some time getting sober. Here is the link to The Maris Center 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

 

https://linkhouseinc.org/

Ep.16 ATTENTION NEWCOMERS!!!!!

Paul is a good friend who has helped me get, and stay sober to this point on my journey. He has a really good way of getting across to the newcomer in sobriety. He’s helped many men and women by speaking the truth and not sugar coating anything.
I love and agree with him 100% when he says “YOU ALONE CANNOT GET SOBER”
We start our discussion talking about being new in sobriety, and coming back into the program after time away.

Ep.15 My inspiring, funny friend Janine

My wonderful friend Janine joins me on the podcast.  We start our conversation talking about how we met, which was at the first or second AA MEETING I ever attended. And Janine gave me my big book ! The only stipulation she gave me was that I “had to read it!”  

Janine explains how her early foundation in recovery was built on old school speaker tapes. She says she experienced different fellowships early on but stuck with AA as her foundation. 

Janine is a 15 year breast cancer survivor and says cancer sucks just like addiction sucks ...but there is a way out !  

As it relates to her Cancer, Janine is aware of chemical extraction and separation of different foods, drinks and other products. She tries to avoid these types of things in hopes of reducing her chances of cancer relapse, much like she keeps drugs and booze out of her system to avoid a relapse of the other disease she lives with. 

Janine says she never ended up in “jail” for some of the things she did in the past...but quickly adds that jail, for her, was in her own mind

“Those too have went before me and have survived” 

 

I love this woman. She is strong, honest and caring. And she makes me laugh all of the time!!!! 

This is Janine’s Story...I hope you enjoy it as much as I did 

Ep.14 My friend Glen is a heroin addict who has been clean for 17+years

Glen is a friend from work who is a proud member of the NA fellowship. He is a small business owner and has a 2 1/2 year old little girl. He talks about his upbringing in the historic fishing town of New Bedford MA and what it was like growing up in his home and the community.  Glen uses the the principles of the Narcotics Anonymous program as a blueprint to guide him through life. He has an extremely powerful story...hopefully it helps one person. 

Ep.13 My friend Lauren shares her story

I really enjoyed my conversation with my friend Lauren. We start talking about sobriety dates and the hope that a newcomer may get by hearing other people’s sobriety dates. We also start talking about having fun times in sobriety.
Lauren has been sober roughly 6 months and she has a very, very informative message to share with anyone who is struggling with alcoholism/addiction.
Her story is clear and direct. She talks about how God has a GPS on us and waits for us to take the directions that are given...otherwise we ride around in circles our whole lives !!
She had an intention to learn how to drink like a lady and that she would be able to control it as she got older.

While living a sober life , Lauren says that she enjoys counting the hours and days of sobriety that she is accumulating...she looks at it as accomplishing a goal.

She says that she had to have faith that there was something bigger than her and that she had to be honest and willing. Her obsession went away pretty quickly, and she refers to that as a MIRACLE.....but her hope slowly had to come back so that her life could improve. She realizes that she couldn’t learn, change, or get better until she stopped beating herself up for all the shit she had done.
Lauren says she can’t do anything if she’s living in guilt and shame. She says she’s learning that the only real way to recovery is if you let go a little bit and trust that if you’re putting an honest effort in, and let all the other shit go, and just TRY to do the right thing.

Lauren believes that sobriety is a gift from GOD which will enable her to reach and help people. She wants to be s positive influence in other people’s lives. Lauren wants to help others and there is no doubt that SHE WILL !
This is Lauren’s story....enjoy