Good Monday morning, friend. Here's a fresh Sober Sunrise to start the week with a little hope, a little honesty, and a few speaker stories to keep you company, plus an ICYMI shoutout for Mark B. if you missed it the first time around.
This Week's Episodes
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You're Working the Program on the Wrong Guy - AA Speaker - Geoff C. Geoff C. - Studio City, CA 1,318 views Sponsorship Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Relapse & Coming Back Geoff walked into AA on Christmas Day 1978 after years of jail, drinking, and desperation. His sponsor almost refused to work with him, but inventories forced him to meet the real version of himself. He shares his experience with relapsing before his 20th AA birthday, coming back with no days, and discovering that spiritual experience happens in the spaces between one alcoholic and another.
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My Wager Is Too High - AA Speaker - Scott L. Scott L. - Hagerstown, MD 1,111 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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There Is No Door Number Three - AA Speaker - Chris S. Chris S. - Covington, LA 1,030 views Hitting Bottom Step 6 & 7 - Character Defects Sponsorship Chris used to know exactly where the serious AA people were, and he knew exactly how to avoid them. When he finally meant business, those "fanatics" were the ones he went looking for. He shares how drinking took him from a 14-year-old waking up in a sand trap to prison, and how reaching the point where there was no door number three led him to the people who could help save his life.
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Joe & Charlie - Part 1 - AA History - AA Big Book Workshop Joe & Charlie - Laughlin, NV 314 views Big Book Study Sponsorship Founders & AA History In Part 1 of the legendary Joe & Charlie Big Book workshops, they begin with the history behind Alcoholics Anonymous and the Big Book, starting from the Foreword to the Second Edition and the first AA group in Akron, Ohio in June 1935. They walk through Bill W., Dr. Bob, Ebby Thacher, Dr. Silkworth, the Oxford Groups, and the early shape of the program, establishing the pattern of what the problem is, what the solution is, and the practical program of action.
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I'm Not a Has-Been, I'm a Never Was - AA Speaker - Jerome S. Jerome S. - Santa Barbara, CA 246 views Step 4 - Resentments & Inventory Sponsorship Hitting Bottom Jerome shares a vivid AA talk about growing up in South Central L.A., taking his first drink in the summer of 1962, and discovering that alcohol seemed to make him able to act and stop caring what anyone thought. That first drink became a long collapse through homelessness, hospitals, arrests, and repeated institutional stays, until he walked into an AA clubhouse on June 6, 1973, and finally listened.
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Joe & Charlie - Part 2 - The Doctor's Opinion Explained - AA Big Book Workshop Joe & Charlie - Laughlin, NV 135 views Big Book Study Step 1 - Powerlessness Spiritual Awakening In Part 2 of the Joe & Charlie Founders' Day series, Joe and Charlie explain The Doctor's Opinion and its connection to understanding alcoholism itself. They walk through Dr. Silkworth's explanation of the body's abnormal reaction to alcohol, the physical craving that follows the first drink, and the mind's tendency to forget consequences.
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Joe & Charlie - Part 3 - Bill's Story Explained - AA Big Book Workshop Joe & Charlie - Laughlin, NV 58 views Big Book Study Spiritual Awakening Step 1 - Powerlessness In Part 3 of the Joe & Charlie Founders' Day series, Joe and Charlie walk through Bill's Story as the first full example of alcoholism, identification, and recovery in the Big Book. They trace Bill W. from early success and Wall Street through the progression of alcoholism, showing how drinking became necessary rather than exciting, and follow his turning point at Towns Hospital in December 1934.
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Joe & Charlie AA Speakers - Part 4 - There Is A Solution - AA Big Book Workshop Joe & Charlie - Laughlin, NV 10 views Big Book Study Step 2 - Higher Power Spiritual Awakening In Part 4 of the Joe & Charlie Founders' Day series, Joe and Charlie explain the two powers in There Is A Solution: the fellowship that holds us and the spiritual experience that changes us. They walk through how the chapter serves as the Big Book's answer to the problem laid out in The Doctor's Opinion and Bill's Story, focusing on the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and the vital spiritual experience needed beyond fellowship alone.
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My Dark Past Became My Greatest Possession - AA Speaker - Mark B. Mark B. - Orlando, FL 3,618 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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Step of the Month: Step 6 Step 6 is where a lot of us stop trying to look good and start getting honest about what is actually blocking us. It is less about fixing ourselves overnight and more about becoming willing to let go of the stuff that keeps us stuck. Chris S. shares how he went from avoiding the "serious" AA people to finally seeking them out when he realized there was no door number three. He talks about how drinking took him from a 14-year-old waking up in a sand trap to prison, and how that bottom became the start of getting help. Related Episodes: |
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Stats for Nerds This week, you all watched 439,401 minutes of Sober Sunrise. That's about 305 straight days of listening, which is basically a whole year of one very determined coffee break. Also, 140 new subscribers joined the crew. That's enough people to fill a pretty lively room, or start a surprisingly committed recovery kickball league. |
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