20250801 - (7) Alcohol is not a problem for me today20250801 - (7) Alcohol is not a problem for me today
Love Your Life, with Randy Mermell
Randy Mermell is an international coach, speaker, and podcaster. Randy helps people live happy and purposeful lives. Drawing from his own experience from 20 years of happy marriage, raising two daughters, and his success as an entrepreneur, he has helped others get through all types of professional and personal challenges, including love, marriage, children, jobs, and finding passion in everything we do. With over 28 years of sobriety, and success in his own life overcoming low self-esteem, addictions to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and coffee Randy draws on his real-life experience to lead meditation and recovery retreats internationally.
25:54•27 Aug 2026
Alcohol Is Not My Problem Today: Randy Mermell on the Real Nature of His Disease
Episode Overview
- Alcoholism is described as a mind-centred disease that speaks in the person’s own voice, making harmful ideas sound reasonable.
- Randy separates alcohol from alcoholism, stating that time away from alcohol does not treat the ongoing mental obsession.
- He explains that the true purpose of AA is to have a spiritual awakening through practising the Twelve Steps, not to fix external life circumstances.
- Admitting complete defeat at being okay in the present moment is presented as essential for opening up to a power greater than oneself.
- Talking honestly to a higher power "like a friend" is shared as a practical way to quiet the mind and experience peace, which he calls sanity.
“I can never ever drink alcohol again, but alcohol is not a problem for me today.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? In this meeting-style episode of "Love Your Life", Randy Mermell talks candidly about alcoholism as a relentless mental disease and why alcohol itself "is not a problem for me today". Randy shares that his body is "allergic to alcohol" and that his real struggle sits in a restless, unsatisfied mind that constantly wants more – more money, more success, more approval.
He describes alcoholism as a disease that "talks to me in my own voice", making destructive ideas sound reasonable, even after 37 years without a drink. You’ll hear Randy break down why simply not drinking isn’t enough for him. Time away from alcohol, meetings, books, even prayer on their own don’t treat what he’s dealing with right now.
Instead, he focuses on the AA steps as "a group of principles, spiritual in their nature", that can help him become "happily and usefully whole" in the present moment. A big shift comes when he talks about the true purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous: not getting the perfect job, partner or car, but "having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps".
He explains how admitting "complete defeat" at being okay in this moment opens the door to seeking a power greater than himself. Randy offers a very practical approach to a higher power in Step Two. He suggests simply talking to it "like I would talk to a friend" – honestly sharing fear, worry, or frustration – and notices that when he does this, "my mind gets quiet" and a sense of peace appears.
That quiet, he says, is his version of sanity. If you’re wrestling with the mental side of alcoholism, or wondering why you still feel restless even when sober, this honest share might give you something real to think about today. How might your life change if peace, not control, became the goal?
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