Stay Sober, Help Others [Season 10, Episode 23]

Stay Sober, Help Others [Season 10, Episode 23]

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This episode of AA Grapevine's Half-Hour Variety Hour follows Pedro P., whose clubbing weekends on Long Island casually stretched into two, three, even four days of drinking. He describes how bingeing made him question whether he was "really" an alcoholic, until AA showed him "there's more than one type of alcoholic" and a shared spiritual sickness underneath all the different stories.

You’ll hear Pedro talk about blackouts that began after just a couple of drinks and how that finally pushed him to AA: if he didn’t remember the night, what was the point of paying for all those drinks? The fellowship’s “kookiness” pulled him in, and he jokes that there’s not much difference between AA and the bar "minus the blackouts".

Over time, service, sponsorship, and step work turned his life around: "My purpose and the only thing I've ever gotten somewhat right is not drinking and helping somebody else with my experience." Now living near Lisbon, Pedro contrasts AA culture in the US and in Portugal.

He talks about the shame around alcoholism in Latin cultures and how meetings can focus on being a good worker, parent, and partner, while missing what he sees as crucial: a higher power, spiritual growth, and real fellowship. For him, the magic lies in that connection: "Nothing substitutes one alcoholic helping another." There’s also a light-hearted segment with Rick K. from Maryland, who shares how the Grapevine magazine gives him jokes, service opportunities, and a monthly reminder of worldwide recovery.

Anyone who’s ever wondered whether their binge drinking "counts", or who feels wary of the God talk, is likely to relate. Pedro’s message is simple and kind: there’s "a beautiful, amazing life" available if you "go with the flow of love" and stay sober one day at a time. What might that life look like for you?