Happy Tuesday morning, friends. (I swear, one of these weeks I will get it out on Monday :D) If you are easing into the week with a little coffee and a little hope, this one has a lot to offer, with stories that are honest, surprising, and real in the way recovery tends to be. Plus, our ICYMI spotlight on Mark B. is still getting a lot of love, so there is plenty here to carry into the week.
This Week's Episodes
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Sober Without a Solution - AA Speaker - Melanie S. Melanie S. - Dodge City, KS 1,011 views Step 1 - Powerlessness Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Steps 8 & 9 - Making Amends Melanie got sober in October 2002 and spent years in treatment centers, hospitals, and repeated attempts to manage what she couldn't control. The real turning point came when a sponsor finally showed her what it meant to have lost the power to choose, walked her through the Big Book, and helped her understand why the Steps had something to offer.
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I Paid Half a Million Dollars for a Big Book - AA Speaker - Adam T. Adam T. - Hamilton, Bermuda 944 views Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Steps 8 & 9 - Making Amends Big Book Study Adam went through treatment 28 times before a sponsor cut through the badge of honor: it did not make him an alcoholic. It meant he had paid half a million dollars for a Big Book. In this sharp, funny AA talk, he breaks down the difference between the fellowship and the program, and the outer wreckage versus the inner spiritual condition that kept taking him back.
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My Sponsor Knows, But Not This Part - AA Speaker - Kane T. Kane T. - Minneapolis, MN 844 views Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Sponsorship Honesty Kane kept parts of his life away from the program until prison, sponsorship, and a Fargo home group started showing him that every little thing had to come into the light. From feeling like he missed the class on how to be cool, to drinking in high school, losing jobs, and eventually going to prison, Kane tells a story about trying to manage life one piece at a time.
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God Came Crashing Into My Darkness - AA Speaker - Chris H. Chris H. - Cleveland, OH 702 views Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Spiritual Awakening Hitting Bottom Chris shares how drinking began at 11 and followed her through blackouts, self-reliance, family pain, treatment, and the wreckage that finally made AA possible. She talks about treatment as discovery, not recovery; why "putting the plug in the jug" was only the beginning; and how sponsorship, inventory, amends, and carrying the message helped her move from ego and fear into love and God.
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We Know the Way In and the Way Out - AA Speaker - Peter M. Peter M. - Toronto, ON 605 views Step 10 - Daily Inventory Step 11 - Prayer & Meditation Step 12 - Carrying the Message Peter opens with silence, then challenges the room with a hard question: are we actually feeding the spirit, or just giving God a quick check-in on the way out the door? He shares a workshop-style talk on Steps 10, 11, and 12, exploring the daily disciplines that keep recovery alive and the danger of calling it "maintenance" when the program is meant to keep growing.
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I Wanted to Be Ordinary - AA Speaker - David B. David B. - Edmonton, AB 385 views Step 1 - Powerlessness Sponsorship Hitting Bottom Dave was the first AA member in Quebec, and what finally reached him was simple: the Big Book described people who got sober, went to work, came home, and lived like ordinary human beings. His story stretches from childhood fear in Mexico City through boarding school, the Bank of Montreal, and years of consequences across Quebec, Winnipeg, and Vancouver - until a police station bullpen where the fight finally went out of him.
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My Wager Is Too High - AA Speaker - Scott L. Scott L. - Hagerstown, MD 285 views Step 1 - Powerlessness Step 12 - Carrying the Message Sponsorship Scott could fly supersonic jets, but he could not outfly alcoholism. By the time AA found him, the dream job, the willpower, and the John Wayne act had all stopped working. He shares how drinking as a young Air Force pilot, losing his greatest job, and finally landing in treatment led him to discover he did not know how to keep himself sober.
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In Case You Missed It | ||||
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My Dark Past Became My Greatest Possession - AA Speaker - Mark B. Mark B. - Orlando, FL 3,249 views this month Mark spent years blaming war, prison, violence, and fear for the way he drank, until alcohol stopped working and AA showed him the problem had been deeper all along. He shares a raw and funny AA story about growing up in Massachusetts, finding relief in his first drink at 14, and carrying fear through Vietnam, psychiatric hospitals, jails, prisons, and homelessness before discovering a spiritual solution in the program.
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One day at a time. You're not alone.