He Knew Enough Not to Stop His Mental Health Medication – Todd M.

About This Speaker Tape

Grateful For Today Fellowship Group - 2010

A childhood of systemic abuse and a series of violent car wrecks left Todd M. with five traumatic brain injuries and a deep-seated rage toward the Creator. He spent years oscillating between jail cells and hospital beds drifting from New York to Virginia and Ohio often masking his drug use to out-drink everyone in the room. The turning point arrived after a broken neck and a $9,500 settlement that he blew in a week on women and substances. With six bucks in his pocket he hitchhiked to North Carolina eventually finding a foothold in a men's homeless shelter. Now two years sober Todd M. views his life as a full 360-degree turn trading the 'stinking thinking' of a victim for a spiritual connection he calls the Creator marked by a 'Serenity' tattoo on his heart.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Todd M. opens by marking his two-year sobriety milestone.
• 2:15 Discussion of childhood trauma, molestation, and early anger toward the Creator.
• 5:40 Account of the car wreck that killed his fiancee and his second TBI.
• 8:20 Detailed account of the wreck where he was clinically dead for 8.5 minutes.
• 11:30 The broken neck (C7 fracture) and the subsequent $9,500 settlement.
• 14:10 Hitchhiking from New York to North Carolina with six dollars in his pocket.
• 17:45 Reflection on codependency and the desire to 'fix' others to avoid self-work.
• 20:10 The 'victim vs. victory' shift inspired by his sponsor's sponsor, Don.
• 23:30 Laughter: Todd M. recounts his argument with his sponsor over the 90-in-90 challenge.
• 26:00 Reading of the Big Book passages on Acceptance (pages 417 and 420).