Recovery Means Doing The Next Right Thing with Burk Jackson | Episode 507

Recovery Means Doing The Next Right Thing with Burk Jackson | Episode 507

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation with long-term recovery advocate and app creator Burke Jackson offers a grounded, no-frills look at what it means to "do the next right thing" for more than three decades. Burke shares openly about growing up with an alcoholic, mentally ill mother, early trauma, and discovering alcohol at just 12 years old.

He jokes that his real addiction was "more" – whether it was alcohol, cocaine, or anything else that briefly made him feel okay in his own skin. A pivotal moment came in a Texas jail cell, where a quiet inner voice warned, "If you don't change what you're doing, you're going to grow old in a box just like this." From there, he chose sobriety on 20 October 1994 and has stayed alcohol- and drug-free since.

The chat dives into the messy reality of long-term recovery. Burke and the hosts talk about emotional ups and downs, "emotional inebriety," and the myth that decades of sobriety equal perfection. As Burke puts it, "I'm closer to my next drink than I am to my last," which keeps him focused on daily action: meetings, service, writing, and connection.

A big highlight is Burke's passion project, Recovery Bridge, a free, anonymous, chat-based app created so people don't have to suffer alone between meetings or when they can't face calling a sponsor. It’s built for anyone in recovery who just needs a human ear, and for those who want a simple way to give back by being available to listen.

If you're craving real talk about long-term sobriety, community, and practical tools for staying connected, this episode gives plenty to relate to and some ideas you might borrow. Whose phone could you put in your pocket today so you’re not alone when the hard moments hit?