Step Study | 10 & 11

Step Study | 10 & 11

What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This Step Study session of **SOBER: The Podcast** zooms in on Steps 10 and 11, with Bradley Saxon walking a group through the Big Book around pages 84–85 and what it really means to stay spiritually fit once the initial buzz of early recovery fades. Bradley speaks directly to people in treatment, in early recovery, and those who keep relapsing after a good start.

He explains that the first nine steps build a relationship with God that restores "sanity" – which he defines simply as being able to see the truth about alcohol and drugs. From there, Step 10 is about maintaining that sanity every single day: "We are not cured of alcoholism... What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." You’ll hear blunt talk about character defects, ego, and the danger of spiritual laziness.

Bradley uses vivid images – like becoming "spiritually obese" by sitting in meetings but doing nothing – to show how easy it is to slide back into resentment and fantasy about controlled using. He warns, "We are headed for trouble, if we do, for crack cocaine, fentanyl, alcohol...

is a subtle foe." A big focus is on boundaries and patience: giving up certain "rights" for a season so sobriety can stick, rather than racing into freedom you don’t yet have the character to handle. He urges people to keep doing the work in good times and bad, to build a faith that shows up in actions even when feelings are absent.

For anyone who’s done Steps 1–9 and wonders what comes next, this session paints a raw but hopeful picture of long-term sobriety built on daily spiritual maintenance, emotional balance, and living for something bigger than yourself. Are you ready to put Step 10 to the test in your own life?