The Other Side of Hell Podcast

The only way to get what we want is to continually try in getting it. It’s through persistence that we’re able to grow past the obstacles that stand in our way. When we move forward in spite of resistance and in the face of adversity, we increase our strength to deal with life on life terms.   This week’s episode is on persistence, a topic that was inspired by Peter’s Warstory. Peter was adopted a...

Say it with me: I am not responsible for my first thought, only my first action. This can take some time to really sink in. For most of us, we had to come the realization that our thinking is a bit skewed. The things that occur to most “normies” may process through our thinkers differently. It’s okay! It’s what makes us who we are today. Accepting our flaws and understanding our thinking errors is...

We've all done some shit we're not proud of when drinking. Hell some of us have probably done some shit we're not proud of in sobriety! But there is something to be said about the power that can come from owning our past. That's exactly what this week's episode of The Other Side of Hell is about; owning your story.   Our topic was inspired by this week's warstory from Gavin. If you're unsure of ex...

Boundaries: it's hard to know if anything is as important in our early sobriety. We're faced with some rather large pills to swallow in those beginning stages. "All you have to do is change everything." But why are boundaries so important? And is it something that we'll always have to do?   In this week's episode Willy and Cameron are inspired to talk about boundaries. After we sober up, we can st...

It can be difficult to know where we pick up the habits that we have. Odds are, somewhere along the way our “bad” habits, actually served us as a survival instinct of sorts. Wherever they come from, coping mechanisms are not always bad. And they certainly aren’t easy to move past either.   On this week’s episode the guys are joined through the magic of Zoom by Robert White of Any Length Retreat in...

Have you ever felt like your destined to repeat the mistakes of you past? Or beyond that, repeat the mistakes of your parents? Is there such a thing as a family curse? What do we do when we recognize that we are perpetuating the cycle?   On this week’s show Cameron and Willy get into Breaking The Cycle. It’s not always an easy thing to see when we’re going through it, but typically, they’ll come a...

Most of us didn’t skyrocket right to our drug of choice. It’s likely that drinking wasn’t immediately a problem. Somewhere in our drinking and using things crossed a line and there was no looking back. The disease is a progressive one and, like the promises in the AA big book, it can happen sometimes quick, sometimes slowly. In this episode Willy and Cameron are talking about the progression. Whil...

Self-love. It may not come natural to most of us. In fact, usually the opposite is true. But once we begin to clear away the wreckage of our past and establish some new healthy practices, we can find acts of self-love everywhere. In this episode Willy and Cameron get into self-love. When we’re on top of our game and firing on all cylinders it can be easy to love ourselves. But what about when we’r...

We hear it all the time. We work on ourselves so that we can give ourselves away. When all else fails, working with others works. Why is that? In this week’s episode Cameron and Willy get into working with others! There is a reason that this is the 12th step in the A.A. program. There’s a lot we must do first before we can be sure we have a message to share with others. But on the flipside, withou...

How much of ourselves are we willing to sacrifice in order to please others? Where is the line between "service work" and "people pleasing?" How can we learn to say "no" in a loving and non-threatening way? This week's episode is about people pleasing. It can have drastic consequences and extreme repercussions yet for many of us, it's a way for us to get validation. In some cases, it can lead us d...

Do you ever feel like you know everything? A lot of us sure thought so when we were out drinking and using. It wasn't until we were able to shatter that notion that we were truly able to begin receiving help. In short, we had to be teachable. So what does it mean to be teachable? In this week's episode we get into how being teachable played a role in early recovery and how it still seems a crucial...

Reasons we drink or drug can often include the need to escape from or get a sense of relief from our underlying issues. In sobriety we're able to begin looking at these issues to determine how best to deal with them in a healthy and constructive manner. Not doing so can have disastrous consequences for our sobriety. In this episode Cameron and Willy talk about underlying issues. How can we recogni...

When we're in the throes of our disease, our actions can have a lasting negative impact on the people around us. Usually the damage happens to those who love us most. While we are consumed by self-centeredness, family units often become cracked and broken. The tragedy befalls not only ourselves but everyone in our wake. On this episode we are joined by a special guest from up North. Ryan Phillips,...

"If your intention is powerful, your action will be powerful. If your action is powerful, your results will be powerful." -Unknown In the morning we lay our groundwork for the day. If we start with intention, and follow through with action our chances of success increase exponentially. So what is "intention?" Let's talk about it. In this episode Willy and Cameron talk about intention. Willy gets i...

"It takes what it takes." This is a saying we hear often around the recovery community. But what exactly are we saying when we say this? We have to get to a place where the pain of staying the same outweighs the fear of staying the same. Only then do we become willing to do the things we don't want to do. In this episode we're joined by long-time brother in recovery Cole T. Cole has a way of shari...

It's that time of year! Everybody is talking about setting goals for the New Year! And why not? For most of us, it's the perfect time to consider the slate clean, start fresh and go after all the things we failed at doing last year. So what makes this year different? On this episode Willy and Cameron talk all about resolutions. Why talk about resolutions? Because where had been our high resolve! R...

Anger used to rule our emotions. There wasn't much that wouldn't send us over the edge and having us lash out. Anything that stood in the way of drinking and using was a problem. And anger seemed a natural response when we couldn't control the relief we felt from putting that substance into our bodies. Fortunately for us and those around us, today things are different. In this week's episode Camer...

Our recovery means a lot to us. It was after all the largest hill we had to climb in order to begin working on ourselves. But what happens after we're sober for a while? How can we continue to grow, learn and evolve after we've sobered up? How important is having a personal development plan to our lives at this stage of the game? In this episode, Willy and Cameron are joined by Frank, executive di...

It's easy to get lost in the big picture of things. Often, we can find ourselves questioning life and reason behind everything we do. So what is "purpose?" Is it our job, career or hobbies? Or is what we think of as "purpose" something else entirely? In this episode, Cameron and Willy discuss their ideas of "purpose" and how its changed and evolved at different points in their recovery journeys. T...

We hear a lot about confidence. When we were out runnin' and gunnin' we were nearly devoid of all of it. The only thing we often had confidence was our ability to secure our next fix. Now, with some clean and sober footing, we are likely regaining some confidence in ourselves. But it didn't come overnight. Nothing good happens all at once. Brick by brick, we built the foundation of recovery with c...

It's been said that there is no such thing as boredom. Only boring people. So what it is it about being bored that can cause an alcoholic to drink again? Can we really chalk something as innocent as boredom up to relapse or is boredom an indication of something else going on? In this episode Cameron and Willy get deep into the topic of boredom. As with anything in the first stages of our recovery,...

Most of us didn't know how to change the place we were in. We knew our lives were in shambles but climbing out of the hole seemed impossible. When we're finally able to stop digging and take the necessary steps to change we become unstoppable. One accomplishment gives way to another, then another, and another. It's important we celebrate these moments with dignity and grace. On this episode Willy...

It's important that we surround ourselves with like minded people. Connecting with others has proven to be crucial to our sanity and positive thinking. When we can share similar experiences or interests, or come together with a common goal, its easier to let down our guard and establish that connection. This is the foundation for a community and without it, we're often left to our own negative beh...

Patterns are everywhere. When we were drinking it wasn't always easy to see the pattern we were in. When we're in it, it can be frightening to think about what life will be like outside that pattern. Even at their very worst, we can find comfort in patterns. But how can we break those patterns? On this episode the boys get into patterns. Thought patterns, negative patterns, survival patterns, you...

How we see ourselves plays an important role in the way we navigate the world. We can be quick to peg ourselves as our dysfunctions and form an identity around them. Most of us however, had to let go of those the moment we decided to get sober and live better versions of ourselves. So how do we shape a new identity? In this episode Cameron and Willy are talking all about identity. When were we fir...