The Sober Sense Podcast

Featuring our special guest Dakota from The Phoenix. Daily Reflection: Getting Involved - "I understand that service is a vital part of recovery but I often wonder, "What can I do?" Simply start with what I have today! I look around to see where there is a need. Are the ashtrays full? Do I have hands and feet to empty them? Suddenly I'm involved! The best speaker may make the w...

Daily Reflection: Having Fun Yet? - "When my own house is in order, I find the different parts of my life are more manageable. Stripped from the guilt and remorse that cloaked my drinking years, I am free to assume my proper role in the universe, but this condition requires maintenance. I should stop and ask myself, Am I having fun yet? If I find answering that question difficult or painful,...

Daily Reflection: Let's Keep It Simple - "After years of sobriety I occasionally ask myself, Can it be this simple? Then, at meetings, I see former cynics and skeptics who have walked the A.A. path out of hell by packaging their lives, without alcohol, into twenty-four hour segments, during which they practice a few principles to the best of their individual abilities. And then I know ag...

Daily Reflection: We pause... and ask. - "Today I humbly ask my Higher Power for the grace to find the space between my impulse and my action; to let flow a cooling breeze when I would respond with heat; to interrupt fierceness with gentle peace; to accept the moment which allows judgment to become discernment; to defer to silence when my tongue would rush to attack or defend. I promise to wa...

Daily Reflection: Round-the-Clock Faith - "The essence of my spirituality, and my sobriety, rests on a round-the-clock faith in a Higher Power. I need to remember and rely on the God of my understanding as I pursue all of my daily activities. How comforting for me is the concept that God works in and through people. As I pause in my day, do I recall specific concrete examples of God's pr...

Daily Reflection: Would a drink help? - "When I was still drinking, I couldn't respond to any of life's situations the way other, more healthy, people could. The smallest incident triggered a state of mind that believed I had to have a drink to numb my feelings. But the numbing did not improve the situation, so I sought further escape in the bottle. Today I must be aware of my alcoh...

Daily Reflection: Happiness Comes Quietly - "The simplicity of the A.A. program teaches me that happiness isn't something I can 'demand.' It comes upon me quietly, while I serve others. In offering my hand to the newcomer or to someone who has relapsed, I find that my own sobriety has been recharged with indescribable gratitude and happiness." Each episode of The Sober Sen...

Daily Reflection: Hitting Bottom - "Hitting bottom opened my mind and I became willing to try something different. What I tried was A.A. My new life in the Fellowship was a little like learning how to ride a bike for the first time: A.A. became my training wheels and my supporting hand. It's not that I wanted the help so much at the time; I simply did not want to hurt like that again. My...

Daily Reflection: No Regrets - "Once I became sober, I began to see how wasteful my life had been and I experienced overwhelming guilt and feelings of regret. The program's Fourth and Fifth Steps assisted me enormously in healing those troubling regrets. I learned that my self-centeredness and dishonesty stemmed largely from my drinking and that I drank because I was an alcoholic. Now I...

Daily Reflection: It Doesn't Happen Overnight - "The most common alcoholic fantasy seems to be: 'If I just don't drink, everything will be all right.' Once the fog cleared for me, I say - for the first time - the mess my life had become. I had family, work, financial and legal problems; I was hung up on old religious ideas; there were sides of my character to which I was i...

Daily Reflection: Accepting Our Present Circumstances - "When I am having a difficult time accepting people, places or events, I turn to this passage and it relieves me of many an underlying fear regarding others, or situations life presents me. The thought allows me to be human and not perfect, and to regain my peace of mind." This episode is in loving memory of Elvis, Todd's dog a...

Daily Reflection: "The 100% Step" - Long before I was able to obtain sobriety in A.A., I knew without a doubt that alcohol was killing me, yet even with this knowledge, I was unable to stop drinking. So, when faced with Step One, I found it easy to admit that I lacked the power to not drink. But was my life unmanageable? Never! Five months after coming into A.A., I was drinking again and...

Daily Reflection: "United We Stand" - I came to Alcoholics Anonymous because I was no longer able to control my drinking. It was either my wife's complaining about my drinking, or maybe the sheriff forced me to go to A.A. meetings, or perhaps I knew, deep down inside, that I couldn't drink like others, but I was unwilling to admit it because the alternative terrified me. Alcoho...

Daily Reflection: "An Act of Providence" - My act of Providence, (a manifestation of divine care and direction), came as I experienced the total bankruptcy of active alcoholism - everything meaningful in my life was gone. I telephoned Alcoholics Anonymous and, from that instant, my life has never been the same. When I reflect on that very special moment, I know that God was working in my...

Daily Reflection: "Do I have a choice?" - My powerlessness over alcohol does not cease when I quit drinking. In sobriety I still have no choice - I can't drink. The choice I do have is to puck up and use the 'kit of spiritual tools.' When I do that, my Higher Power relieves me of my lack of choice - and keeps me sober one more day . If I could choose not to pick up a drink...

Daily Reflection: "At the Turning Point" - Every day I stand at turning points. My thoughts and actions can propel me toward growth or turn me down the road to old habits and to booze. Sometimes turning points are beginnings, as when I decide to start praising instead of condemning someone. Or when I begin to ask for help instead of going it alone. At other times turning points are endin...

Daily Reflection: "The Victory of Surrender" - We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built. Each episode of The Sober Sense Podcast is presented ad-free by the Rule 62 Foundation; a nonprofit emp...

Daily Reflection: "Total Acceptance" - He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end. Each episode of The Sober Sense Podcast is presented ad-free by the Rule 62 Foundation; a nonprofit empowering people to live...

Daily Reflection: "Begin where you are." - We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations, and affairs. Each episode of The Sober Sense Podcast is presented ad-free by the Rule 62 Foundation; a nonprofit empowering people to live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives in...

Daily Reflection: "First, the foundation." - Practicing the A.A. program is like building a house. First I had to pour a big, thick concrete slab on which to erect the house; that, to me, was the equivalent of stopping drinking. Each episode of The Sober Sense Podcast is presented ad-free by the Rule 62 Foundation; a nonprofit empowering people to live happy, healthy, and fulfilling live...

Daily Reflection: "Powerless" - It is no coincidence that the very first Step mentions powerlessness: An admission of personal powerlessness over alcohol is a cornerstone of the foundation of recovery. I've learned that I do not have the power and control I once thought I had. Each episode of The Sober Sense Podcast is presented ad-free by the Rule 62 Foundation; a nonprofit empower...