20250806 - (9) It's already turned over, I just need to stop talking about it20250806 - (9) It's already turned over, I just need to stop talking about it
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.
38:53•10 Sept 2026
Stopping the Self-Talk: Letting a Higher Power Handle Alcoholism
Episode Overview
- Alcoholism is described as a disease rooted in the mind, creating constant dissatisfaction, resentment, and emotional pain.
- Self-will and trying to "play God" are presented as ineffective; turning thoughts and actions over to a higher power brings sanity.
- Regular practices like meditation, step work, and daily writing about resentments and fears help clear the mind and ease anxiety.
- Shifting from "what can I get" to "how can I be helpful" can transform family relationships and social situations.
- Peace and serenity are shown to be possible without changing external circumstances, by changing one’s inner focus and reliance on a higher power.
“I cannot free myself from the bondage of me with me.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this AA-based meeting recording, Randy Mermell talks candidly about alcoholism as a mind-centred disease and why, even with 37 years without a drink, he says, "I am the wrong power for my life." You'll hear him describe alcoholism as an "unsatisfiable, fault‑finding, opinionated mind" that creates emotional pain and then demands instant relief, often through fantasy, control, or resentment rather than substances.
Randy keeps things honest and funny, joking about knowing all the book quotes and yet still being unable to "free myself from the bondage of me with me" on his own.
He explains how turning to a higher power, practising the Third Step prayer, and meditation give him tiny pockets of sanity — sometimes just a second at a time — where he can stop obsessing over "what they're doing to me" and start asking, "What can I add to this moment?" The group shares build on that theme.
Elizabeth talks about shifting from "what can I get" to "what can I do to be helpful" and how that simple mantra changes family gatherings completely.
Steve describes years in AA without doing the steps, and how daily writing, sharing resentments and fears, and 40 minutes of meditation now help him feel like "there is some sort of power coming from not my brain." Jeff admits his mind can feel like a horror film, so he focuses on the "next right action" instead of fantasy endings.
Others share everyday examples — losing a phone on a golf course, getting lost in anxious driving, or feeling "bloody mad" on an hourly basis — all pointing back to the same solution: stop trying to run the show and turn towards a higher power for a broader, calmer perspective.
If your mind feels like a hamster wheel or a dodgy estate you shouldn't walk through alone, this candid, funny, and deeply honest meeting might be exactly what you need today. How ready are you to stop talking about the problem and let it be turned over?
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