I Lived the Twelve Steps Backwards - AA Speaker - Tarek K.

You’re Working the Program on the Wrong Guy - AA Speaker - Geoff C.

Geoff says his first sponsor warned him that until he shook hands with the real version of himself, he would be working the program on the wrong guy. ☀️ 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 Geoff walked into Alcoholics Anonymous on Christmas Day in 1978 after years of jail, drinking, using, fear, and desperation. In this AA talk, he shares the sponsor who almost refused to work with him, the inventories that forced him to meet the real Geoff, and the life that opened up when he began doing the work. He also talks honestly about drifting away after years sober, building a big life with a tiny program, relapsing before his 20th AA birthday, and coming back with no days. What follows is a moving story about sponsorship, service, prayer, prison panels, spiritual experience, and the discovery that God was never found alone, but in the spaces between one alcoholic and another. Geoff C. from Valley Village, CA speaking at the Third Tradition speaker meeting in Studio City, CA - November 14th 2007 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

There Is No Door Number Three - AA Speaker - Chris S.

Chris used to know exactly where the serious AA people were, and he knew exactly how to avoid them. When he finally meant business, those “fanatics” were the ones he went looking for. ☀️ 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 Chris, sober since November 19, 1998, shares how drinking took him from a 14-year-old waking up in a sand trap after 11 beers to school trouble, DUIs, work camps, prison, parole violations, detox, and finally the Okaloosa County Jail facing years behind bars. He talks about hearing the AA message long before he was ready, keeping it in his back pocket for “if it ever gets bad enough,” and finally reaching the point where there was no door number three. This is a rough, funny, gratitude-filled AA talk about singleness of purpose, strong sponsorship, a serious home group, following directions, doing the steps, carrying the message into detox and corrections, and finding out that the people he once dismissed as losers and fanatics were exactly the people who could help save his life. Chris S. from Ft. Walton Beach, FL speaking at the 17th Annual Southeast Louisiana Spring Roundup in Covington, LA - May 27th 2006 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

My Wager Is Too High - AA Speaker - Scott L.

Scott could fly supersonic jets, but he could not outfly alcoholism. By the time AA found him, the dream job, the willpower, and the John Wayne act had all stopped working. ☀️ 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, sober since June 28, 1984, shares a funny and deeply serious AA talk about drinking as a young Air Force pilot, flying high-performance aircraft with hangovers, losing the greatest job he ever had, and finally landing in treatment outside Atlanta. He talks about the “John Wayne syndrome,” the first drink that made him feel tall enough and smart enough, the treatment-center moment where he cried out for forgiveness, and the unanswerable question that made him realize he did not know how to keep himself sober. From there, Scott gets into the Big Book, sponsorship by assignment, the difference between fellowship and program, jail and prison service, fourth-step forgiveness, family pain, and the kind of spiritual life that lets him say his wager is too high to treat recovery like a buffet. Scott L. from Nashville, TN speaking at Maryland State Convention in Hagerstown, MD - June 13th 2002 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

God Came Crashing Into My Darkness - AA Speaker - Chris H.

Chris says treatment was only the discovery that a solution existed. The real change came when AA, sponsorship, and a God she could not yet name reached into the prison she had built around herself. ☀️ 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 Chris shares how drinking began at 11 and followed her through blackouts, self-reliance, family pain, treatment, and the wreckage that finally made AA possible. She talks about treatment as discovery, not recovery; why “putting the plug in the jug” was only the beginning; and how sponsorship, inventory, amends, and carrying the message helped her move from ego and fear into love and God. This is a direct, deeply AA-centered talk about surrender, spiritual awakening, and the simple recovery arithmetic Chris learned: one alcoholic with another alcoholic means God is in the room. Chris H. from Cleveland, Ohio speaking at the Memphis Group in Cleveland, OH - October 18th 2008 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

I Paid Half a Million Dollars for a Big Book - AA Speaker - Adam T.

Adam went through treatment 28 times before a sponsor cut through the badge of honor: it did not make him an alcoholic. It meant he had paid half a million dollars for a Big Book. ☀️ 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 Adam spent 17 years in and around Alcoholics Anonymous, picking up chips, coming to meetings drunk, cycling through treatment centers, and still not understanding why alcohol was not really his problem. In this sharp, funny AA talk, he breaks down the difference between the fellowship and the program, the problem drinker and the real alcoholic, and the outer wreckage versus the inner spiritual condition that kept taking him back. Once a sponsor took him through the Big Book and into action, Adam found the missing link in inventory, service, sponsorship, and carrying the message to another alcoholic. Adam T. from Los Angeles, CA speaking at Recovery On The Rock in Hamilton, Bermuda - November 28th 2014 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu