Relevant Recovery

When being right becomes more important than being spiritually correct. We can be factually right and spiritually wrong. In this episode, we look at what the Big Book teaches about arguing, self-righteousness, and the need to prove our position—and how surrender and humility allow us to stop fighting and let God handle it. 🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐...

When God feels silent, do we trust Him and keep moving—or do we use the silence as an excuse to stay stuck? In Episode 274, we explore the difference between waiting on God and avoiding the action He’s already made clear. Through the Big Book’s direction on prayer, self-will, and right action, we discuss how to keep practicing the program without emotional reassurance, certainty, or control over t...

Can something good become spiritually unhealthy? In this episode, we explore how meetings, sponsorship, work, and even our knowledge of the Big Book can become substitutes for God. Join us as we examine our motives, challenge our dependencies, and consider what it really means to put God first.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org...

Learning to accept a closed door without turning it into a spiritual crisis. God's will doesn't always mean getting what we asked for. The spiritual challenge is learning to trust God, accept reality, and continue doing the next right thing—even when the answer is no.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecove...

The alcoholic often tries to solve a spiritual problem with material, relational, emotional, or behavioral solutions. The problem isn't that we have normal human desires—the problem is when those desires become demands and we make getting what we want a condition of our peace.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relev...

In past episodes, we’ve talked about inventories; resentment, fear, sex, even the financial inventory, but this episode will tackle a different question: What is Step 4 actually supposed to accomplish? This is not another “how to take an inventory” episode — instead, we’ll examine what happens after the inventory is written.     🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM...

This week, we tackle a classic recovery trap: trying to think our way into better behavior. The truth is, we gotta ACT our way into new thinking—never the other way around. Tune in as we unpack why the alcoholic mind loves to over-intellectualize and play God with outcomes we were never meant to carry.     🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-rec...

Recovery isn't just about putting the drink down—it’s about learning how to self-sacrifice, build lifelong fellowship, and shift from being a taker to a giver. In Episode 268 of Relevant Recovery, we share the power of completely unplugging, seeing AA in action through our recovery family, and dropping our guard to experience true, shoulder-to-shoulder connection.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podca...

A simple program or “design for living that really works”. . . Why, when there are millions of examples around the world of people whose lives have been revolutionized, do people still refuse the “design”? AA is a very simple program, designed for complicated people. Why do so many not surrender to this simple program or this simple way of life? Why is the message quite often about not drinking, w...

The High Cost of People-Pleasing. We love to talk about being "considerate, helpful, and kind" in recovery. But what happens when our desire to keep everyone happy isn't actually love at all—it's just codependency, people-pleasing or fear wrapped in a spiritual bow? Today we look at how people-pleasing is actually a subtle form of manipulation, and why true emotional sobriety requires us to trade...

This week Ryan joins the show in Heathers absence which should definitely be an improvement.    🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org (http://www.relevant-recovery.org/) 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery #ForGoodAndForAll #RelevantRecovery #12Steps #BigBook #AlcoholicsAnonymous #Recovery #Sobriety #Gratitude #SpiritualAwakening #WeDoRecov...

Reaching out isn't a burden—it’s a lifeline. On todays episode we unpack why we hesitate to reach out, reframe the act of calling another alcoholic through the lens of AA literature, and recognize that reaching out isn't a burden—it’s a gift to both people.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery   #ForGo...

We all know the 12th Step is our absolute insurance policy against a drink. But what happens when our ego hitches a ride on someone else's recovery? Today we look at the fine line between intensive 12th-step work and the toxic need to play God in another person's life.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6:00 PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecov...

We’ve all met them in the rooms—or maybe we are them. The person who sits in the back row secretly believing their situation is uniquely complicated, their defects are just hardwired, or that they are simply a "hard case" that the steps can't fully fix. Today we look at how spiritual stubbornness masquerades as intellectual depth or spiritual pride, and how the Big Book thoroughly dismantles the d...

Nobody wakes up and decides to ruin their life or drift from God—it happens in a thousand tiny, unnoticeable steps. In this episode, we break down "The Slow Creep" of addiction and spiritual malady. Discover how our minds rationalize the drift, why we only see it in hindsight, and how to use Big Book principles to catch the slip before it catches you.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New ep...

We used to roll our eyes every time someone suggested a gratitude list. It felt cheesy, forced, and like it couldn't possibly solve real problems. So what changed? This week, we're talking about why we resisted gratitude, what the AA Big Book taught us about changing our perspective, and how surrender transformed something we once mocked into one of the most practical tools in recovery.   🎧 Where...

What happens when recovery changes you at warp speed, but your spouse, family, or friends are still using the old playbook? How do we drop the expectations and stop trying to sober up or change the people around us?     🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery   #ForGoodAndForAll #RelevantRecovery #12Steps #WeDo...

RELEVANT RECOVERY Facing the Financial Inventory - Episode 258   We talk a lot about alcoholic wreckage, but what about the financial wreckage? How do you pay off years of bad debt, face the IRS, or rebuild a ruined career without letting money or financial anxiety become your new Higher Power?   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 l...

RELEVANT RECOVERY Spiritual Binge vs. Real Service - Episode 257   Are you actually practicing a spiritual program, or are you just addicted to recovery culture? Today, we’re looking at the lines in the Big Book we like to skip—the ones that tell us to stop talking about spirituality and start getting our hands dirty.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 www.re...

RELEVANT RECOVERY A Tale Of Two Ellie’s - Episode 256 On this weeks episode of Relevant Recovery, Donnie sits down again with Ellie and Shane. This time to hear of Ellie’s recovery story and the growth she’s experienced in her spiritual program of action. 🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 http://www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery #ForGoodA...

This week Donnie brings in Ellie as his co-host and is interrupted much less (someone is missing). I sit down with Shane this week. Shane bring a story of three decades of struggle ending in Grace, happiness and purpose... You won't want to miss this episode!

Anyone can stay sober when things are good. But how do we survive the "certain trials" ahead? How can we rely on God when things are not going the way we hoped?     🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery   #ForGoodAndForAll #RelevantRecovery #12Steps #WeDoRecover #SoberPodcast #Godtho

Many people refer to Steps 10–12 as the “maintenance steps,” often pointing to the phrase “maintenance of our spiritual condition” (BB p.85). But a closer look at AA literature shows something very different: these are not maintenance steps at all—they are growth steps.   🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕 New episodes Sundays @ 6PM CST 🌐 www.relevant-recovery.org 🔗 linktr.ee/relevantrecovery...

We live in a constant state of propulsion— always waiting on the next thing, chasing the next milestone, or dreading what hasn't happened yet. Recovery calls us back to the present moment, but our old wiring fights hard against it. Today we look at what Spirituality can teach us about patience — not as passive waiting, but as active trust in God's timing.     🎧 Wherever you listen to podcasts 🕕...

Turning Pain into Purpose — Episode 251   We often carry shame, guilt, and remorse like a weight that holds us back, yet the Big Book and the 12-Step principles show us that those very things — when processed honestly and surrendered — become some of our greatest assets in helping others. Today we look at how we stop letting our past define us and start letting it propel us.   🎧 Wherever you list...