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Functioning Alcoholic

In the context of AA recovery, the functioning alcoholic represents a perilous stage of addiction where external markers of success—such as professional achievements, financial stability, or social standing—mask a deepening internal crisis. As evidenced in these speaker tapes, the ability to maintain a career as a teacher, a business owner, or a professional musician often serves as a psychological shield, delaying the admission of powerlessness and creating a dangerous illusion of control. The core principles discussed center on the eventual collapse of this facade. Recovery for the functioning alcoholic requires a fundamental shift from the relentless need to prove oneself to a state of total surrender. The narratives emphasize that professional competence is not a substitute for spiritual health. Key themes include the necessity of the Big Book and the Twelve Steps to dismantle the ego, and the critical transition from merely needing the program to actively wanting it. A recurring principle is that sobriety is a lease maintained through continuous service; one cannot remain sober unless they give their experience away to others. Listeners can expect raw accounts of the hidden wreckage that persists despite outward success, including strained marriages, family trauma, and profound spiritual emptiness. These tapes provide authoritative insight into the moment of clarity required to stop managing the disease and start recovering from it. Through these stories, listeners will hear how the surrender of worldly attachments—the money, the status, and the image—leads to a genuine reconciliation with family and a newfound ability to find joy in humility and laughter.

125 tapes

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All Tapes

Mike B.
A Spiritual Experience Doesn’t Always Show Up on Time — Mine Came Months After the Tenth Step – Mike B.
★★★★★No ratings
J.C. B.
Third Step for an Agnostic — Just Admit Higher Power Isn’t You — JC B.
★★★★★No ratings
Owen
Thirty-Six Years Sober and I Still Tell My Sponsor I Hope I Never Catch Up to You – Owen
★★★★★No ratings
Chris M.
Children of Alcoholics Don’t Know Alcohol Is Waiting for Them in Their Thirties – Chris M.
★★★★★No ratings
Jacque O.
It’s Not the Drug of Choice — It’s the Drug of No Choice, and That’s Step One
★★★★★No ratings
Liz A.
My Ego Had a Vice Grip on the Illusion of Control for Thirty Straight Years
★★★★★No ratings
John A.
Nightly Tenth Step Since Treatment — Where the Arrogance and Judgment Finally Surfaced – John A.
★★★★★No ratings
Kendall L.
Rigorous Honesty Means Telling the Truth for More Than Fifteen Minutes in a Row
★★★★★No ratings
Joy B.
Twelfth Step Brought Me Back to the Podium So I Don’t Forget Where I Came From – Joy B.
★★★★★No ratings
Amy O.
My Grandmother Poured My First Drink at Nine — Family of Origin Did the Rest – Amy O.
★★★★★No ratings
Phil S.
Ninth Step Calls to Old Girlfriends Showed Me the Disease Was Still Running Me Sober – Phil S.
★★★★★No ratings
Janine M.
An Atheist’s Step 2 — Write Down What a Power Greater Than You Would Be Like – Janine M.
★★★★★No ratings
Chris H.
Functioning Alcoholic Was My Proudest Label Until Two Liters of Vodka Couldn’t Produce a Buzz – Chris H.
★★★★★No ratings
Hashis M.
Sat in the Half-Measure Section and Let a Sponsor Make the Twelve Steps Come Alive
★★★★★No ratings
David H.
Skulking Across the Street to Steal Miller Lites from the Neighbor’s Carport Fridge Like a Grown Man 🫠 – David H.
★★★★★No ratings
Ginny N.
Never Got a DUI, Never Lost a House, Never Had Just One Drink in My Entire Life
★★★★★No ratings
Jennifer W.
Healthy, Vegan, Marathon Runner — Also Drinking a Handle of Liquor Every Single Night 🫠 – Jennifer W.
★★★★★No ratings
Liz M.
Ma’am I Came Here to Get Sober Not Celibate 🤣 – Liz M.
★★★★★No ratings
Tom W.
Do the Steps Like a Child — Earnestly and Badly
★★★★★No ratings
Penny C.
Alcohol Was Just the Disinfectant for Internal Wounds I Refused to Name – Penny C.
★★★★★No ratings
Chris R. and Myers R.
If You Can Sit for a Year Without Drinking You Don’t Need What We Have
★★★★★No ratings
Diego R.
Steps 3 Through 11 Built a Foundation the Pandemic Could Not Break – Diego R.
★★★★★No ratings
Blair A.
No Dramatic Bottom: Just Thirty-Three Years of Slow Erosion Until Nothing Was Left – Blair A.
★★★★★No ratings
Cappy T.
Military Alcoholism: Decades of Service and Decades of Drinking – Cappy T.
★★★★★No ratings
Cliff R.
The Promises Are Not Just Words, a Sick Angry Man Lives Happy Joyous and Free – Cliff R.
★★★★★4(1 vote)
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