Freedom To Choose (The Daily Trudge)

Freedom To Choose (The Daily Trudge)

How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober? This RAW Recovery episode drops you straight into Dion’s day as he wrestles with work drama, shaky support, and the tricky gift of having choices in recovery. You’ll hear Dion open up honestly about feeling burnt out and angry – with his job, with people who promised support and didn’t show, and even with God. He doesn’t sugar-coat it for a second: “I feel abandoned. Yeah. Everybody fucking abandoned me.

That’s how it feels right now.” This is recovery minus the glossy filter, which makes it especially relatable if you’ve ever felt let down while trying to do the right thing. The heart of the episode centres on the idea of freedom to choose in sobriety. Drawing from *As Bill Sees It* and AA readings, Dion talks about how, for years, taking the first drink wasn’t really a choice at all.

Now, with the obsession removed, he sees that “If I take the first drink, all choice is gone.” He walks through the difference between reacting and responding, and how early recovery often feels less like options and more like ultimatums: keep drinking and face jails, institutions or worse, or choose recovery one day at a time.

Alongside the spiritual side – talking about alcohol as “an evil, corrupting, corroding entity” and freedom under God’s will – Dion also hits on everyday stuff: workplace ethics, boundaries, resentment, and how hard it is to ask for help without feeling stupid or ragey. This episode is especially suited to people who appreciate raw honesty, AA-style reflections, and the reminder that even on rough days, you still get to choose the next right thing.

It might just get you asking: what choice are you going to make today?