September 4, 2026
You Can’t Apologize Your Way Out of It
Saying “I’m sorry” is easy. Changing the person who walked into AA is the real work — and the only amends that last.
Read the post →September 3, 2026
SUFFER WELL, MY FRIEND
Unfortunately, pain is the great motivator for many of us. For the most part, I didn’t learn much unless there was some pain involved. The suggestions of AA were given to us for a reason. They came from people who had already traveled the road we were attempting to walk.
Read the post →September 2, 2026
I HEARD MY BROTHER COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH
After 38 years of sobriety, my wife showed me something I still hadn't seen about myself. Real amends aren't just words—they're visible in what happens afterward.
Read the post →September 1, 2026
THE 500-POUND PHONE
A story about the fear that finally made me willing, the sponsor who hung up, and how a 500-pound telephone became one of the tools that saved my life.
Read the post →August 31, 2026
THE PROMISE I DIDN'T KEEP
A sober man reflects on the one promise he broke more than 25 years ago — and what making amends really means when the past suddenly reappears.
Read the post →August 30, 2026
THE KID WHO JUST WANTED TO BE LIKED
Growing up lonely and awkward, I drank to feel like I belonged. Nearly 39 years later, I’m learning that emotional sobriety means caring without being held hostage by other people’s opinions.
Read the post →August 30, 2026
How to Get Sober and Actually Stay That Way
There is no trick to it. There is a short list of unglamorous actions that work if you do them, and do not if you do not.
Read the post →August 29, 2026
SOMETIMES IT'S A BITCH BEING HUMAN
We make stupid decisions. Then, instead of taking responsibility, we blame someone else. It's easy. It's lazy. And we do it anyway.
Read the post →August 28, 2026
WE FUCKED OUR FAMILIES UP
I wasn't married when I first got sober. I was 21 years old and living back home with Mom and Dad. Thank God they were willing to take me in.
Read the post →August 28, 2026
SMART Recovery and AA: An Honest Look From an AA Guy
I got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous and stayed there. That does not mean it is the only door. Here is a fair comparison of the two.
Read the post →August 27, 2026
DON’T DRINK, GO TO MEETINGS, AND BE A GOOD HUMAN
I haven’t lived perfectly. What I have done perfectly, right up until this second, is stay sober — and that gives me the chance to keep becoming a better human.
Read the post →August 26, 2026
THE GROUP DEPENDED ON THIS 21-YEAR-OLD ANGRY PUNK
How ashtrays, coffee pots, hospital wards, and a blizzard taught me that commitments keep you sober.
Read the post →August 26, 2026
What Recovery Actually Looks Like on an Ordinary Tuesday
Recovery is not a moment of transformation. It is a set of small, unglamorous actions repeated until they become a life.
Read the post →August 25, 2026
AA RUINED MY ISOLATION
I sat in that circle while I was in therapy, but I had no intention of telling anyone how I truly felt or what I thought about myself.
Read the post →August 24, 2026
SHAME WAS EATING ME ALIVE
There was a time when I felt absolutely horrible about myself. The self-loathing and disgust I felt toward the person I had become were ripping me apart from the inside.
Read the post →August 24, 2026
What Sober Really Means (After 38 Years of Living It)
The dictionary says sober means not drunk. After nearly four decades without a drink, I can tell you it means a whole lot more than that.
Read the post →