Sober Friends

Send us Fan Mail We got to know Danielle last week, as she reached out to the show on how to handle a disruptive alcoholic at a meeting.  After talking to her, we realized her story would really help the new guy as she brings a remarkable story of recovery. Danielle started drinking, one year after her mother died of ovarian cancer at age 13.  She was always sad and played the victim card, not kno...

Send us Fan Mail Our original intent with this episode was to talk about how we deal with active alcoholics, while now in recovery.  While soliciting some questions on Instagram, Danielle reached out with an issue she is having at her home group.  There is an active alcoholic who comes into the meeting and is disruptive.  This happens regularly.  She wanted some help on what to do in this situatio...

Send us Fan Mail When we were drinking, alcohol was our solution.  It was not just our problem.  Once we got sober, we had to find a solution to life's problems since our old best friend was taken away.  The next level of sobriety is not just being dry, but to have control of how you feel. In this episode, John, Steve and Matt talk emotional sobriety and what it means to them: Being ok feelin...

Send us Fan Mail Eric found him self on the kitchen floor, drunk and getting sick.  It was a low place for him and took another two weeks before he found his way to a rehab.  He ended up in the hospital with blood clots and was lucky to be alive.  Looking around, he realized they saw him as just another drunk and he accepted it too.  He was just another drunk. Against all odds, Eric found a way to...

Send us Fan Mail Howard’s MO early in AA was to come late, leave early and if anyone said anything he didn’t like, he’d just get up and leave.  Howard’s soulful belief was that AA did not work and he was going to prove it.   Just when Howard was about to give up and drink, the fellowship grabbed him and as he headed out the door, asked, “Have you thought of trying it our way?”   That day changed e...

Send us Fan Mail Mr Know it all It's a common refrain for not only the active alcoholic, but for some of us in recovery.  We overcompensate for our insecurities by puffing out our chests so you won't see our insides. There are lots of people who are egomaniacs.  We in recovery are fortunate enough to have a program of action that walks us through how to get this under control. It's...

Send us Fan Mail Resentments are a killer of alcoholics.  When we have a resentment, we are replaying an old memory that may or may not be accurate.  Getting sober means finding a way to work through those emotions and the faulty way we used to perceive them.  In recovery, we have to find a way to handle the bad stuff that comes our way and do it in a way that is healthy and does not cause us to d...

Send us Fan Mail Everything I ever wanted to know when I got in my 12 program, I learned from my sponsor.  The greatest gift to your own sobriety you could ever give yourself, is reaching out the helping hand to someone else sick and suffering.  They may not stay sober, but you sure will. In this episode, John, Matt and Steve talk about Sponsorship.  That first meeting can be scary and you can be...

Send us Fan Mail When Mike C was drinking, he always told himself, if it got that bad, he’d be able to stop. When it did get that bad, Mike found he could not.  On the surface, Mike's life was what you’d normally would say was the envy of everyone, but he felt was dead inside.  Mike was fortunate to have someone come into his life and told him he did not have to feel this way and there was a...

Send us Fan Mail Mark S from the Recovered Cast Podcast at https://recoveredcast.com/ is the sponsor of this episode.  Mark bought us a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberfriendspod .  Matt used this episode to ask for help from his Sober Friends John I and Steve C.  Matt has a few things going on in his life: Burnout Struggles with his higher power Through the episode, Matt discovered, t...

Send us Fan Mail Step 12 says, having had a spiritual awaking as a result of these steps, we carried the message to the alcoholic still suffering and practice these principles in all of our affairs. Wait, I thought this was about stopping drinking?  So I have to use these principles in my life outside of drinking?  I'm not sure I signed up for that. What we've learned through the steps i...

Send us Fan Mail I'm not drinking anymore!  I'm sober! Well, not so fast. John, Steve and Matt tell their own tales of what sobriety means to them and how it differs from just being, "dry." For us, the feeling of being dry, is just the removal of alcohol with no treatment in place to become sober.  Dry means that our behaviors have not changed.  We continue to have the same cha...

Send us Fan Mail At 7 years old, Tanya's mum gave her a small glass of wine and told her to sip it.  Of course, this little girl gave it a chug.  Tanya's grand mother said, "this one is going to be a drinker."  Little did Grandma know that Tanya would attend her first AA meeting at the age of 18. Tanya has been sober since January 11, 2008.  Tanya's first meeting was in a...

Send us Fan Mail Gill Tietz picked up her first drink later than most.  Bullied in school, she avoided social gatherings and focused on academics.  But after starting Graduate School, she decided to live a little, experiencing love at first sight with alcohol. A Biologist by trade, Gill talks about getting bullied as a kid and isolating from others through the end of college.  Gill got into drinki...

Send us Fan Mail How is Dry January going for you?  With us getting closer to the end of the month, it's time to take stock.  Have you made it this far?  Or did you have a drink.  If so, did you get back on the wagon? These three alcoholics are just really hearing about Dry January and we dug in to learn more. Matt downloaded the app and took the alcohol use quiz.  Based on his days drinking,...

Send us Fan Mail Keeping up your physical health by exercising and eating right is difficult under the best of circumstances.  Just the act of stopping drinking or drugging and addressing root causes of substance abuse can be overwhelming, let alone starting the process of getting physically fit. Last week, we discussed how important maintaining your physical health was important.  This week, we s...

Send us Fan Mail Your physical and mental health take a beating during active addiction.  Recovery is a three legged stool of mental, spiritual and physical recovery.  Eating healthy, exercising and seeing a physician on a regular basis is part of staying sober and can easily be neglected. Though we find recovery, we always have an alcoholic mind and that "obsession," can come out in oth...

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Send us Fan Mail Jeff was the good brother, so his sibling took the blame. Jeff got caught drinking by his wife, so now he could drink in the open Jeff's story changed when he was stopped, drunk at a DUI checkpoint, talking himself out of trouble by saying he was going to a meeting and being given directions by the officer.  He's been sober since. Jeff recently celebrated 10 years of sob...

Send us Fan Mail Gabe got sober 24 years old but lived  through a nightmare to get there. Gabe shares growing up in an alcoholic family with an abusive family and he fell into addiction too.  He then shares how a "Founder's Day" in Akron, Ohio changed everything and got him out of his shell.  Gabe shares how he's sponsored scores of alcoholics and after once turning his back on...

Send us Fan Mail This is one of the most powerful conversations about spirituality we've ever had.  Buddy chats with Matt J and Steve C about Taoism, his long path to sobriety, Eastern Spirituality, and overcoming personal tragedy and remaining sober.  He is the author of the book, Powerless But Not Helpless: A Meditation Book of 81 Verses from the Tao Te Ching that can help you live an alcoh...

Send us Fan Mail Sobriety during the holidays, especially when new can be overwhelming.  "How can I get sober with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years coming?  I'll miss all the fun!" "How can I be sober at a work party?  Everyone will pester me!" There are some simple answers to these questions and John and Matt discuss everything from what to say when you are not drink...

Send us Fan Mail Kelly of East Coast Sober Squad is the guest on this week's show.  She talks her party girl life of drinking and how it masked the real her.  Kelly then discussed getting sober, how she's helped others in the Instagram Sober Community and the humble beginnings of East Coast Sober Squad, a woman's virtual group using Slack and Zoom to connect and stay sober.  You can...

Send us Fan Mail Emily B Part 2 We complete our interview of Emily B this week.  On this episode, Emily talks about the challenges of women in sobriety, her view of spirituality and a new creative product she's doing with her daughter. Leave a comment for the show at (860) 281-2303. Please help support the show by giving it a review and rating in Apple Podcasts.  Find Recovery Links, access t...

Send us Fan Mail You Are Not Alone - A Recovery Podcast is 1 Year Old!  Thank you for your support! Emily B is a woman in long term sobriety.  Emily got sober in 1985 at the age of 18 when she was faced with a choice of going to AA or going to jail.  In part one of two, she talks about her relationship with previous guest Tim G, how she got sober and what she had done to stay sober. Leave a commen...