The Being Human StepThe Being Human Step
RAW Recovery Podcast
Dion talks about Step 10 as the "being human step", focusing on accepting mistakes, owning triggers, and starting the day over as needed. The conversation blends humour, readings from recovery literature, and practical tools for dealing with daily emotional chaos without abandoning recovery principles.
33:03•1 Oct 2026
The Being Human Step: Owning Mistakes and Starting the Day Over
Episode Overview
- Recognising racing thoughts, fears, and resentments as a sign that life has become unmanageable can be the first step back toward sanity.
- Bringing problems into the open with another person reduces their power and can act as a prelude to Step 10 work.
- Step 10 is described as the "being human step", giving space to make mistakes while still taking responsibility for behaviour.
- Starting the day over at any time, rather than waiting for tomorrow, helps prevent new resentments and keeps recovery on track.
- Practising self-restraint, especially with words, and examining motives behind actions can turn problems into opportunities for growth.
“When we bring things out into the light, they lose their power over us.”
What drives someone to seek a life that allows mistakes, messy feelings, and growth all at the same time? This RAW Recovery Podcast episode, "The Being Human Step", sits right in that space, focusing on practising recovery while still being gloriously imperfect. Host Dion keeps things relaxed and relatable, opening with cat antics and bad coffee humour before getting into the serious stuff.
Drawing on an Al-Anon daily reading and the AA 12&12, he talks about that familiar chaos of racing thoughts, old fears, and resentments, and how recognising it is often the first clue that life has slipped into being unmanageable.
As he reads, “When we bring things out into the light, they lose their power over us,” he links this to the idea of Step 10 as the "being human step" – the bit of recovery that gives you “the right to be wrong.” You’ll hear about practical tools like spot-check inventories, starting your day over at any time, and phoning someone to reduce the power of swirling thoughts.
Dion stays firmly grounded in personal responsibility: owning feelings, actions, and even triggers, rather than waiting for the world to behave. He admits that lines like “every time we are disturbed… there is something wrong with us” still bug him, and that honesty makes the conversation feel real rather than preachy. This episode is especially helpful for people in recovery who beat themselves up for not being "spiritual enough" or perfectly serene.
It’s aimed at anyone trying to live by recovery principles in day-to-day life – dealing with anger, jealousy, self-pity, and the temptation to “play the big shot.” If you’ve ever wished you could just press reset on a rough day in sobriety, this chat might help you ask: what if being human is part of the step, not a failure of it?
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