Dave F. Big 40 Exercise - Manastash Men's Retreat 2026Dave F. Big 40 Exercise - Manastash Men's Retreat 2026
Mad Dog Recovery AA Speakers
Dave F. talks with a group of men in AA about emotional hangovers, relationship dynamics and a 40‑week spiritual principles practice. The session mixes humour, clear guidance and practical tools aimed at deepening sobriety and strengthening family life.
1:09:37•24 Jun 2026
Dave F.’s Big 40: Spiritual Principles, Pink & Blue Talk, and Real AA Life
Episode Overview
- Avoid isolating during emotional hangovers; share, pray, and remember AA begins with “we.”
- Use WAIT (Why Am I Talking?) and Q‑TIP (Quit Taking It Personally) to reduce conflict, especially with partners.
- Recognise women’s primary need for security across physical, emotional, financial and spiritual areas.
- Practise one spiritual principle per week from the Big 40 list, using simple images to keep it alive in daily life.
- On 12‑step calls, always go in pairs and assign a safety person to watch for weapons and overall security.
“God’s grace lasts only as long as ignorance. And you guys aren’t ignorant anymore. Now you know.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This retreat talk from Dave F. at the Manastash Men’s Retreat centres on practical spirituality for men in recovery, blending humour, honesty and hard-earned experience. Dave opens by naming a familiar AA phenomenon: the emotional hangover. He shares how a participant was so overwhelmed he tried to escape in his truck, only to pull over and realise he was too emotional to even call his wife. Dave warns, “Be very careful, gentlemen.
That’s exactly what you do not want to do,” pointing instead to confession, prayer and the first word of the programme: *we*. You’ll hear his “pink and blue” framework for communication in relationships. Men speak and hear in “blue” (facts), women in “pink” (emotion), and Dave walks through how misreading this can threaten a partner’s sense of physical, emotional, financial or spiritual security.
The acronym WAIT — “Why Am I Talking?” — becomes a lifesaver for marital arguments, alongside tools like Q‑TIP (Quit Taking It Personally). From there, he introduces the “Big 40” exercise: forty spiritual principles to practise one week at a time.
Each principle is tied to a vivid image — patience as a bus stop or a ketchup bottle, willingness as the eager weasel from Foghorn Leghorn, surrender as “tap out.” These playful word pictures turn what could feel heavy into something workable and even fun.
Dave also outlines simple daily structures: using a 3x5 card to plan a God‑centred day, spot‑checking spiritual condition every time he “grazes,” and staying safe on 12‑step calls by going in pairs and watching for weapons. Throughout, the tone is direct but warm, aimed at men in AA who want more depth in their sobriety and their relationships. As Dave puts it, “God’s grace lasts only as long as ignorance.
And you guys aren’t ignorant anymore.” Ready to see what one principle a week could change in your life?
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