Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

I Went to One Meeting Too Many - AA Speaker - Paul O.

56 min · 18. juni 2026
episode I Went to One Meeting Too Many - AA Speaker - Paul O. cover

Description

Paul went to AA for seven months with no intention of becoming an alcoholic. Then he attended one meeting too many, caught himself laughing with everyone else, and never drank again ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive More AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Shirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear: https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter Weekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates: https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Paul, sober since July 31, 1967, shares a wonderfully funny AA talk about being a doctor who could diagnose everyone except himself. After weight loss, convulsions, headaches, and a growing sense of insanity convinced him that he had a brain tumor, alcoholism landed him in the psychiatric ward of the hospital where he practiced medicine. He first attended AA to satisfy his psychiatrist, kept returning because his wife enjoyed the meetings, and finally discovered that the laughter, Steps, meetings, and fellowship were reaching him despite everything he thought he knew. Paul talks about the noisy committee in his head, giving God a 51 percent controlling interest in his life, assigning God the worry while he handles the work, redoing the Steps, carrying the message, and learning that sobriety requires both meetings and action. At the heart of the talk is the point of the V: accepting that he was alcoholic changed the entire direction of his life, because acceptance did not mean approval. It meant facing reality and finally having a choice. Paul O. from Laguna Beach, CA at 19th Everett Conference - November 28th 1997 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Comments

0

Be the first to comment

Sign up now and become a member of the Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast community!

Get Started

1 month for 9 kr.

Then 99 kr. / month · Cancel anytime.

  • Podcasts kun på Podimo
  • 20 lydbogstimer pr. måned
  • Gratis podcasts

All episodes

406 episodes

episode Big Book Will Travel - AA Speaker - Don B. artwork

Big Book Will Travel - AA Speaker - Don B.

Don’s sponsor handed him a card that said “Big Book Will Travel,” and that old AA spirit runs through the whole talk: show up, carry the message, and give away what saved you. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, save favorite speakers, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sober-sunrise/id6770203116] 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 More AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Shirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear: https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter Weekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates: https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Don shares an old-school AA talk that weaves early Alcoholics Anonymous history with his own story of drinking, lying, family damage, and final surrender. He talks about the first meetings in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the fragile beginnings of AA on the West Coast, and the people who kept showing up because they needed each other as much as the newcomer needed them. Then he turns to his own life: drinking through military service, hiding behind success and performance, sending two wives toward Al-Anon before he ever got sober, and reaching a January 15, 1985 bottom where he could not get drunk and could not get sober. In treatment, an old sponsor with a “Big Book Will Travel” card pointed him toward prayer, inventory, the ABCs, service, and the kind of life Don calls the fourth dimension: a place where God provides what is needed when we stay close and do the work. Don B. from Pleasant Hill, CA speaking in Oyster Point, CA - September 30th 2004 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Yesterday56 min
episode The Eight Minutes That Got Me Here - AA Speaker - Cliff R. artwork

The Eight Minutes That Got Me Here - AA Speaker - Cliff R.

Cliff says alcohol gave him eight minutes where the black rock in his belly went quiet, but AA taught him a different way out: service, laughter, and giving away what saved him. ☀️ Sober Sunrise App Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, save favorite speakers, and keep recovery support close throughout the day. 📱Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sober-sunrise/id6770203116] 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 More AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Shirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear: https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter Weekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates: https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Cliff shares a sharp, hilarious, and painfully honest AA talk about being a “functioning alcoholic” who almost died while still going to work, winning speech tournaments, and looking nothing like the park-bench alcoholic he thought he had to become. From his first drink at 16 to blackouts, fights, daily drinking, teaching school while dying inside, a surf shop with 15-martini sunsets, hot vodka in the glove compartment, and a family pushed into chaos, Cliff’s story keeps circling one truth: alcohol gave him a few minutes of relief from the black rock in his belly, then took everything else. His bottom came when his teenage son told him life was beautiful without him in the house, and the surrender came later on a beach-house floor with the Big Book open to page 63. Through sponsorship, service, Al-Anon, laughter, and the Steps, Cliff found the promises coming true and learned that the feeling of uselessness and self-pity disappears when we see how our experience can benefit others. Cliff R. from Oceanside, CA speaking at Specific Group, Las Vegas, NV June 22nd 2000 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

9. juli 202655 min
episode The Miracle Is: I Was Ready - AA Speaker - Robi S. artwork

The Miracle Is: I Was Ready - AA Speaker - Robi S.

Robi shares a funny, honest, and deeply moving AA talk about untreated alcoholism, the spiritual malady, amends, sponsorship, and the miracle of being ready when grace shows up. ☀️ Check out the New 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. 📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sober-sunrise/id6770203116] ☀️ 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 Robi shares her experience as a recovered alcoholic, beginning with the hopelessness, spiritual malady, and loss of choice that brought her to Alcoholics Anonymous. She talks about coming into AA sick, broken, and out of options, learning that simply removing alcohol was not enough, and finding freedom through sponsorship, truth-telling, inventory, amends, prayer, meditation, and working with other women. This AA speaker tape moves from raw honesty and humor into powerful recovery moments: being present with her mother at the end of life, walking through amends without unfinished business, and later having her daughters return to her life when she was finally spiritually ready to receive them. It is a strong message about not faking recovery, staying active in the Steps, and finding the kind of freedom where we no longer have to face life alone. Robi S. from Ventnor City, NJ speaking at the Absecon Speaker Group in Absecon, NJ - October 30th 2013 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

8. juli 20261 h 2 min
episode God Interrupted My Death - AA Speaker - Peter M. artwork

God Interrupted My Death - AA Speaker - Peter M.

Peter M. shares a powerful AA talk about being recovered, hitting the bitter end, and finding a solution far deeper than simply putting the plug in the jug. ☀️ 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. 📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sober-sunrise/id6770203116] ☀️ 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 Peter M. shares his experience of alcoholism, recovery, sponsorship, the Twelve Steps, and the spiritual awakening that changed his life. Sober since June 23, 1988, Peter talks about the back hallway moment that became his bitter end, the pain his alcoholism brought to his family, the treatment centers that could not solve the real problem, and the people in Alcoholics Anonymous who carried a clear message of recovery to him. He challenges the idea that “not drinking” is the whole program, pointing instead to amends, prayer, meditation, service, sponsorship, and the power found through working the Steps. This AA speaker tape is direct, spiritual, and deeply personal, with a strong message about moving from untreated alcoholism into recovered life. Peter M. from Union, NJ speaking at the first annual Sobriety Omaha Style in Omaha, NE - June 23rd 2007 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

7. juli 202659 min
episode I Like the Effect Produced by the Steps - AA Speaker - Scott S. artwork

I Like the Effect Produced by the Steps - AA Speaker - Scott S.

Scott says alcohol made life switch from black and white to color, but 19 years later the effect he keeps coming back for is his mother’s respect, his son’s trust, and the Steps working in real life. ☀️ 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. 📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sober-sunrise/id6770203116] ☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode Archive More AA speaker tapes and recovery stories: https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Shirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear: https://sober-sunrise.com/merch 🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletter Weekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates: https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter Scott shares a raw, funny, and deeply alive AA talk about fear, blackouts, homelessness, jail, treatment, denial, and the long fight against the idea that he was different from everyone else in the rooms. He remembers the first drink changing everything, the obsession with that feeling, the lies he told himself before picking up again, and the day he finally saw that liquor had become his master. In recovery, the same man who once could not buy a soda starts rebuilding through sponsorship, inventory, amends, service, family repair, and the steady voices of AA people who told him the truth. With 19 years sober, Scott talks about his mother respecting him again, his son trusting him, sitting with his sister as she died, getting help from other alcoholics, and learning to love the effect produced by the Steps more than the effect produced by alcohol. Scott S. from Winston-Salem, NC speaking at the Unity Club Saturday speaker meeting in Winston-Salem, NC - March 24th 2007 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

6. juli 202645 min