When I got sober, alcohol stepped off the throne of my life. But that left me with a new question: What would take its place? In this episode, I share insights inspired by a recent church sermon and translate it into the language of recovery. We explore how addiction doesn't necessarily disappear. It often just changes clothes. Careers, achievements, creativity, helping others, and even exercise can quietly become the center of our lives if we're not paying attention. How can we tell and what’s the harm? Sometimes the answer is hidden in what we worry about, what we can't put down, or what we believe gives us our identity and peace. Join me as I think out loud about freedom, purpose, emotional sobriety, and the importance of the pause. Because the question isn't simply What do I believe in? It's what is directing my thoughts, my decisions, and ultimately my life today? Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

What is Sitting on the Throne of Your Life?

This week’s Facebook memories have reminded me of my Longwood ZTA reunion 17 years ago. The pictures look like I was having a great time. But the memories behind those photos tell a very different story. I remember dancing on the bar, falling in the street, lying on a sticky beer-soaked floor, and believing I was just partying like everyone else. Looking back through the eyes of recovery, I can see that I hadn’t grown out of drinking after college. I was falling deeper into my disease. I look at those memories and see my insecurity, anxiety, and the desperate need to belong fueled by alcoholism long before I understood what was happening to me. Recovery has transformed those painful memories from sources of shame into opportunities to spread hope to others. Sometimes the stories we most want to hide are the very stories someone else needs to hear. We think our greatest contribution comes from our accomplishments, but I've learned that my deepest impact comes from honestly sharing about the unmanageable pain I’ve survived. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

The Gift Hidden in the Wreckage: When Your Past Becomes Someone Else's Hope

My recovery program asks that I be willing. Can seeking with no finish line build a comfortable life in faith? In this episode, I explore how emotional sobriety and faith is built one moment at a time, why an open mind is more important than certainty, and how willingness moves us to and through living with trust.  If you've ever felt stuck trying to figure everything out before moving forward, this conversation is a reminder that faith is found in the willingness to trust in the horizon that is painted for us. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

Seeking Faith Without Understanding Can Be Comfortable

Celebrating 100 episodes in 2026!  We show up in recovery to stop drinking. Right? Well, some of us actually are hoping we can learn how to drink like a lady. 🫤 What I discovered is a completely new way of living. I talk so often about the hard parts of recovery and mental health, but today I’m celebrating what recovery and given back to me. I have deeper relationships, a tight family, purpose, self-respect, and opportunities to build a new powerful ME. I enjoy life without needing anything in my hand. I’m on a never-ending journey of self-discovery, and I get to love others and myself on a higher plane. I know how joy and hardship can exist at the same time. After my stroke, I realized that my sobriety program had prepared me to walk through the hardest season of my life and still smile. The same principles that helped me recover from alcoholism continue to guide me through disability, fear, grief, and acceptance today. Recovery gives me far more than freedom from alcohol. It gives me a life I never knew was possible. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

The Joys of Recovery: Rediscovering Me

One of the questions I'm asked most often is, "When did the cravings stop?" I don't believe my cravings were magically lifted, and I don't think willpower keeps me sober. Instead, my cravings slowly lost their power as they were replaced by willingness willingness to do the next right thing: go to another meeting, pray, ask for help, etc. Move a muscle, change a thought! In this episode, I share how small daily actions changed my relationship with alcohol, why cravings are not commands, and how focusing on the next right thing eventually gave me a freedom I never thought was possible. If you're struggling with cravings today, I hope this episode reminds you that you don't have to fight them forever you just have to be willing to take the next step right now. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

Managing Cravings With Willingness

My relationship with grief has changed dramatically in sobriety. I spent nearly twenty years grieving the loss of a high school friend before sobriety finally allowed those feelings to move through me. Grief can be felt, and it’s not going to kill me. Talking helps me process emotions instead of freezing them in time.  When we allow ourselves to feel instead of numbing the pain, we can carry loss together rather than in isolation. Today I can see how loss continues to shape the person I'm becoming. Grief no longer steals my faith and hope. It deepens it. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

How to Grieve Sober: Letting Feelings Move

My sobriety program teaches me what to do with fear, anger, sadness, disappointment, embarrassment, etc. The real problem isn't the thing that’s disturbing me, it's what I do because I'm disturbed. Left alone, my thoughts isolate me and feed on each other. But the 12 steps has given me a different path. Today I explore the power of pausing, focusing on what I can control, getting the disturbance out of my head and through my mouth, and doing the next right thing. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

When I'm Disturbed, What's My Next Right Thing?

After taking a week away from the podcast to rest during a vestibular flare, I'm back with an update on my health, my birthday, my family, and what's been filling my mind lately. I've been exploring everything from quantum physics to spiritual awakening, and I've realized they have something in common: learning to see beyond what's right in front of us. In recovery, I didn't just stop drinking, I slowly began opening my eyes to a bigger, richer, more meaningful way of living. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

I’m Back: Recovery With Eyes Wide Open

Today I'm just checking in to let you know that I'm taking a week off due to a temporary (hopefully) decline in my condition.

Health Update

Some days, the best thing I can do is admit that my brain has reached its limit. In this episode, I share what it's really like to live with a vestibular disorder after stroke, how symptoms change from moment to moment, why treating one symptom reveals another, and what brain fog feels like from the inside. I also talk about the frustration of searching for answers, advocating for yourself with doctors, and learning to listen when your body tells you it's time to stop. Coincidentally, by the end of this episode, my brain fog became so overwhelming that I couldn't even remember the point I was trying to make. I left it in so you can see the most honest picture of recovery. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

When Your Brain Says, "That's Enough": Living with a Vestibular Disorder

Today I'm doing something I don't want to do: nothing. When you live with chronic illness, pain, or disability life can unpredictably erase your entire to-do-list forcing you to invest in tomorrow through rest. Doing less today allows you to do more tomorrow. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

Rest Is Productive: The Reward is Quality of Life

My disability, chronic pain, and alcoholism doesn't take a day off. Invisible illnesses don’t do that. After staying up late to enjoy the Fourth of July celebration, I was reminded that even good choices can have consequences when you're living with a chronic condition. Sometimes I get tired of living a full time recovery life, but even so, I must accept reality and surrender to it, one day at a time. It's okay to get tired of being sick. It's okay to get tired of living with alcoholism. What's important is that we don't stop accepting what is true today and doing the next right thing. It's how we stay free. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

Recovery Doesn't Take a Day Off: Acceptance Every Single Day

"I want help, but let me tell you how to help me." Classic Rachel! Whether I’m relying on my husband, sponsor, doctors, friends and family, or my Higher Power, I am constantly negotiating how others should help me. I become teachable when my self-sufficiency  reaches its limits, and humility and desperation force me to surrender. Only then does my life change in beautiful ways I never could have planned. I struggle to let go of control while still hoping things will get better. Recovery only exists when I’m willing to accept help, trust the process, and don’t try to do life alone. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a> Visit my Recovery Upcycling Etsy shop! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling">https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling</a>

Trusting Others: When Self-Sufficiency Fails Us

What does it mean to rely on God? If you've ever struggled with the idea of faith, wondered how to accept God into your life, or felt like you needed proof before you could believe, you're not alone. In this episode, I explore Step Two of Alcoholics Anonymous: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." I talk about what sanity means, why open-mindedness and humility matter most, and how relief is in the seeking not the understanding. Just as science accepts unseen forces like dark matter and dark energy because of their effects on the universe, we can learn to recognize the evidence of a Higher Power in the peace, hope, and transformation that seeking Him brings. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a>

Relief Is In the Seeking, Not the Understanding

I don't become brave before I act. I become brave because I act. Every time I walk toward fear, my brain collects evidence that I can survive it. Confidence is learned. Before a difficult conversation or situation, my mind writes the ending before the story even begins. I rehearse failure, rejection, embarrassment, and loss while my emotions respond as if those imagined outcomes are  real. Understanding the emotions beneath my anxiety can change the way I approach challenges. Sometimes what looks like anxiety is really insecurity, fear, or even excitement. By slowing down and identifying what I’m actually feeling, I can stop reacting to the stories in my head and start responding to the reality in front of me. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a>

Stop Rehearsing the Worst: Walking Toward Fear Creates New Evidence

For 42 years, I sleepwalked through life. My body was present, but my mind was elsewhere replaying yesterday and worrying about tomorrow. Alcohol was my favorite escape, but there are many ways to leave the present moment, like busyness, tv, books, and social media. In this episode, I discuss what mindfulness actually MEANS to me and the need to pair that with introspection to attain emotional sobriety. The Twelve Steps teach me that recovery is more than putting down the drink. I can show up for my life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I learn to keep my head where my feet are while also exploring what's happening inside me. Curiosity becomes courage while each decision I make bridges the world outside of me with the world within. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779</a>

Stay Curious To Stay Present

When life becomes overwhelming, my first instinct used to be escape. Alcohol promised relief, but it only delayed my problems until they returned bigger than before. In this episode, I explore the difference between escaping reality and creating a healthy pause before responding to it. That pause is where wisdom grows.Using the image of a pressure cooker, I share why emotional pressure needs a release valve. Whether it's walking without distractions, prayer, gardening, journaling, or simply resting before reacting, healthy coping lowers the pressure so we can face problems with clarity. Recovery has given me the ability to stay present and move through life's challenges instead of running from them.Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts:Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779

Learning How to Stay Instead of Escape

For me, alcohol guarantees pain, slow physical suicide, and immediate emotional collapse. Bad things didn't happen every time I drank, but every time something bad happened, I was drinking. Every heartbreaking relapse story reminds me how serious our disease is. I wish I could erase it, go back and stand in between them and that drink, and spare them the suffering that follows. But each of us has our own journey. It takes what it takes. My responsibility is to protect my own sobriety, remain available to help others, and remember that today is the only day I have to show up for. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779

Relapse: It Takes What It Takes

When life becomes overwhelming, my first instinct used to be escape. Alcohol promised relief, but it only delayed my problems until they returned bigger than before. In this episode, I explore the difference between escaping reality and creating a healthy pause before responding to it. That pause is where wisdom grows. Using the image of a pressure cooker, I share why emotional pressure needs a release valve. Whether it's walking without distractions, prayer, gardening, journaling, or simply resting before reacting, healthy coping lowers the pressure so we can face problems with clarity. Recovery has given me the ability to stay present and move through life's challenges instead of running from them. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779

One of the greatest gifts of recovery is the transformation from feeling overwhelmed by life's challenges to becoming someone who can help others through theirs. There was a time when all of my energy was spent simply surviving alcoholism and learning to navigate life after a stroke. Today, recovery has given me the ability to sit with someone in pain and offer hope.  In this episode, I explore the recovery principle that we must give it away to keep it, the wisdom of the corn farmer who shared his best seed with his neighbors, and how helping others often strengthens our own healing. The more we share our experience, strength, and hope, the more we discover that recovery was never meant to stop with us. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.  Rather listen on Apple Podcasts? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recovery-daily-podcast/id1693924779

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