Episode 45 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | "My First Spiritual Awakening In Recovery"Episode 45 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | "My First Spiritual Awakening In Recovery"
The Recovery First Addiction Recovery Podcast by Freedom Recovery Services of Greenville
Mike Todd reflects on his first spiritual awakening in early recovery, sparked by hearing a long-sober speaker share about childhood sexual trauma. He links that moment to facing his own past, embracing therapy, and sustaining recovery over 31 years.
15:39•22 Oct 2021
A Mullet, a Mentor and a Spiritual Awakening in Early Recovery
Episode Overview
- Spiritual awakenings in recovery can be unexpected, deeply personal moments that bring buried experiences to the surface.
- Hearing someone openly share about childhood sexual molestation helped Mike recognise his own suppressed trauma and reduced his shame.
- Long-term recovery may include mental illness, PTSD and losses, yet continued sobriety is still possible with persistence and support.
- Therapy can be a crucial part of sustained recovery, helping people face painful histories without being destroyed by them.
- Role models with many years of recovery offer hope that it’s possible to stay clean even when life doesn’t match early expectations.
“The room got foggy, a aura came around Frank G., and I had an opportunity to be in the room with just me and Frank and God.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Mike Todd, it was a mix of pain, persistence, and a moment he describes as his very first spiritual awakening in recovery. Marking 31 years in sustained recovery, Mike looks back on his early days, sharing a story from his first year clean at a convention called Serenity Fest in Myrtle Beach.
Staying in what he calls the "unofficial recovery house" with other men in recovery, he met Frank G, a keynote speaker from California with 25 years under his belt. For a young man who had never even seen that kind of long-term sobriety, it was like meeting a superhero. Mike explains how he "hinged on every word" Frank said.
During Frank’s talk, something shifted: “the room got foggy… a aura came around Frank G… it was just me and Frank and God.” As Frank shared that he had been sexually molested as a child, Mike suddenly recognised his own buried trauma and shame. That moment, he says, was God telling him, "you will be okay" and that facing his past could help him walk alongside other men dealing with similar wounds.
He’s honest that his recovery hasn’t been a quick fix. From mental illness and PTSD to therapy over many years, Mike stresses that he’s “had to just work my butt off for everything in my recovery.” Yet he also shows how long-term recovery is possible, even when life doesn’t turn out as “rosy” as expected.
Aimed at people in recovery, their families, and anyone curious about spiritual growth in sobriety, this story blends raw honesty, humour (yes, including a mullet photo), and hope. It might leave you asking: what moments in your own journey are quietly trying to wake you up?
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