Steven R Step 10 Deep Down Within 04-26-26Steven R Step 10 Deep Down Within 04-26-26
Mad Dog Recovery AA Speakers
Stephen R shares his current understanding of Step 10 as a daily practice of staying spiritually awake, honest and God-reliant. He explains how watching thoughts, using simple prayer, talking with a sponsor and making amends quickly help him remain useful and sober after many years.
34:08•14 Nov 2026
Stephen R on Step 10: Staying Spiritually Awake One Day at a Time
Episode Overview
- Step 10 is described as a moment-to-moment practice of being present, awake and aware, rather than a one-off exercise.
- Watching thoughts and motives helps keep resentment, selfishness, dishonesty and fear from turning into damaging behaviour.
- Simple prayers, used in real time, are presented as key tools for matching mental turmoil with serenity.
- Honest discussion with a sponsor is shown as vital, both for “clean-up” and for being redirected back to God-reliance.
- Making amends quickly and then turning thoughts to someone to help is framed as the real purpose of Step 10 practice.
“Some days I walk around the entire day spiritually asleep and only wake up if I’m in collision with something or somebody.”
What drives someone to seek a life guided by spiritual discipline rather than self-centred thinking? In this talk from Mad Dog Recovery AA Speakers, Stephen R from Austin, Texas shares how Step 10 has become a daily way of life, not just a line in the book.
Speaking from 18 years of sobriety and a strong “big book” lineage, Stephen talks about Step 10 as a practice of being present, awake and honest about his spiritual condition in the middle of the day. For him, it’s about moving from an ego-led life to what he calls “an awakened state of God consciousness”, where he watches his thoughts, checks his motives and stays willing to surrender his opinions about how life should go.
You’ll hear him break Step 10 down into simple, practical actions: watch, pray, discuss, amend and then help. He describes “watching” as staying spiritually awake, asking himself questions like, “What am I doing? What am I thinking? Do I need to say this?” so that resentment, selfishness, dishonesty and fear stay as harmless thoughts rather than turning into harmful actions. Stephen also shares how sponsorship fits into Step 10.
He talks about calling his sponsor for “clean-up” after he’s caused damage, and how important it is to have someone who won’t buy into his self-pity or victim stories. The goal is always the same: to get back to God-reliance and usefulness to others. There’s plenty here for anyone who’s already done some step work and wonders how to keep growing spiritually over the long term.
If you’ve ever felt yourself “spiritually asleep on your feet” in sobriety, this honest and sometimes gently humorous share might be exactly what you need to hear next. How willing are you to keep practising Step 10 when life seems to be going just fine?
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