Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

Donna could convince herself she'd catch the eleven o'clock boat, sleep it off, and make it to work. Then she'd drink, and the plan would disappear. AA helped her see the lie before the first drink - and the fear she kept carrying into sobriety. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 https://sober-sunrise.com/app If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise. ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Hundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Donna describes getting sober at 26 after years of trying to make drinking fit around the life she wanted. She could plan to stay dry until a wedding, convince herself one drink would fit her diet, and promise to be home from a boat trip in time for work, but once she started drinking, those plans disappeared. AA gave her a way to understand the craving, but deeper recovery meant examining the fear, resentment, and relationship patterns she kept carrying into sobriety. She talks about divorce, learning to date without abandoning her values, and building a marriage where commitment could be practiced one day at a time. Through inventory, amends, sponsorship, and a growing relationship with God, Donna describes restored relationships and forgiving harms she'd once thought unforgivable. When both parents died within six weeks of each other, that work became the ability to keep showing up for their care, even when she dreaded the drive over. She closes on the freedom of no longer living in her past and the responsibility to use her experience to help someone else. Donna B. from Portland, ME speaking at the Tuesday night Surrender Group of Alcoholics Anonymous in Portland, ME - January 27th 2009 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

John has seen an open AA meeting tell a newcomer to get out, and another leave a woman seeking sobriety wondering what she'd just heard. His singleness of purpose workshop is about carrying AA's message clearly without forgetting kindness. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 https://sober-sunrise.com/app If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise. ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Hundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter With twenty years sober, John approaches singleness of purpose by reaching for AA literature rather than treating his own opinions as authority. He traces the importance of identification through the Washingtonians, the Oxford Group, and the early connection between Bill W. and Dr. Bob, then turns to Traditions Three and Five and the responsibility of an AA group to carry a clear message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Two meeting experiences show why both focus and kindness matter: a chairperson harshly confronts a newcomer at an open meeting, while a woman John brings for help with drinking leaves asking what she'd just attended. He also discusses open and closed meetings, cooperation with treatment facilities, AA's relationship with other fellowships, and literature on medication and the limits of an AA member's role. Returning to the image of a mosaic he saw in Rome, John closes with the individual member as one small part of a much larger whole. John S. from Pensacola, FL presenting a workshop on Singleness of Purpose at the Gulf Shores AL Jubilee in Gulf Shores, AL - February 28th 2009 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Nine years sober, Jerry took his AA chip to his father's grave. Recovery hadn't brought everything back, and "just turn it over" couldn't do the work for him. This is his story of inventory, forgiveness, and learning to find joy on the other side of surrender. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 https://sober-sunrise.com/app If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise. ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Hundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Jerry recalls a painful childhood in Detroit, his father's drinking, and the anger he carried into his own alcoholism. He describes starting to drink during his Air Force service, losing his marriage and contact with his children, and eventually living in alleys before finding AA on January 28, 1974 - twenty years to the day after his father's death. A fellow member took time to show him the Twelve Steps early on, giving him a foundation in inventory, meditation, amends, and helping others. But Jerry doesn't present sobriety as a promise that everything comes back. He talks about accepting that another man raised his children, working through layers of resentment toward his father, and bringing a nine-year chip to his father's grave. Later relationships bring more pain and more opportunities to learn that surrender is a process, not something solved by being told to "turn it over." With nearly twenty-seven years sober, he keeps returning to the joy of living, the value of honest friends, and a willingness to see the people who irritate him as chances to grow. Jerry B. from Houston, TX speaking at Houston Roundup in Houston, TX - November 24th 2000 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Chris spent seven years going in and out of AA before a Big Book group showed him how to work the Steps. Two weeks later, sitting on his truck's tailgate, he realized the obsession to drink was gone. His life was still a mess, but he wasn't fighting a drink anymore. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 https://sober-sunrise.com/app If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise. ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Hundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Chris shares a blunt, often funny AA talk about seven years of coming and going before a Big Book-focused group showed him how to begin the work. After a career as a chef gave way to repeated losses, broken promises, and a desperate bottom in 1987, he sought help from a doctor to begin detox, then returned to a meeting and nearly backed out again. A young member stopped him, sat beside him, and helped him stay long enough to hear people describe lives changed by the Twelve Steps. The group followed through with visits, sponsorship, a Third Step, inventory, and useful responsibilities around the club. Chris remembers being handed a vacuum cleaner while he was still shaking, then feeling genuine pride when people noticed the room he had cleaned. Sitting on his truck's tailgate about two weeks into recovery, he realized the obsession to drink had lifted, even though his financial and physical problems were far from solved. He closes with a hundred-mile bicycle ride through worsening weather, using the riders who carried one another home to describe the connection he finds in active AA service. His emphasis is on giving newcomers hope, clear directions, and a meaningful part to play. Chris R. from Ingram, TX speaking at the Big D Roundup in Dallas, TX - May 2009 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Nearly five years sober, Mark faced federal charges - then the agent who arrested him asked for help getting sober. Seeing an FBI agent as an AA newcomer was one thing. Learning to help him without expecting something back was another. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 https://sober-sunrise.com/app If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise. ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Hundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Mark tells a fast, funny AA story about success, grandiosity, and arriving at a meeting convinced he could buy Alcoholics Anonymous. He recalls making a fortune in the record business while still trying to prove himself to his late father, then getting sober on February 22, 1983, under the watch of a blunt, loving sponsor. Early recovery includes disco suits, late-night Twelve Step calls, losing his possessions, and learning that a sober birthday still matters when the outside of his life looks like a failure. Nearly five years sober, old conduct catches up with him in a federal indictment. The agent who takes him to court later admits he can't stop drinking and asks for help. The agent later steps away from the case, but Mark continues sponsoring him. Mark also describes AA friends packing the courtroom, a suspended sentence, and eventually presenting that same man with a thirteen-year sobriety cake. Beneath the outrageous stories is a clear message about sponsorship, resentment, accountability, and the fellowship that taught him to value sobriety over status and to love and forgive himself and others. Mark K. from Santa Monica, CA speaking at the 25th San Diego Spring Roundup in San Diego, CA - March 29th 2002 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu