Tom Tuesday: Topic - Our Problems were of our own making

Tom Tuesday: Topic - Our Problems were of our own making

What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This Tom Tuesday recording follows long‑time AA member Tom I as he cracks jokes, tells on himself, and quietly hammers home one message: "our problems were of our own making" – and so is the work of putting things right. Speaking from Madison, Virginia, Tom insists he’s "not a speaker" but a storyteller, and that’s exactly how this session feels.

You’ll hear him recall early drinking, blackouts, waking up in strange beds, and the moment he realised, in his words, "we Alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control their drinking." He doesn’t glamorise the chaos; he just lays it out with straight humour and brutal clarity. A big chunk of his story centres on prison, where he was sentenced for manslaughter and met Alcoholics Anonymous for the first time in a maximum‑security setting.

Tom describes walking into that first AA meeting in 1957, not believing he was an alcoholic, and then being struck by identification rather than education: "we’re not people who just have similar experiences. We’re people who have been broken and healed in the same place." From there, he talks about fumbling through the steps, finding a home group, and discovering that freedom can begin inside a cell.

You’ll hear how he carried AA into his life after parole, built a career in the prison system, and stayed “wide open” in service without burning out, guided by home‑group responsibility and the traditions. Tom’s style is direct, funny, and very human – perfect for anyone who likes their AA message wrapped in real stories instead of lectures.

If you’ve ever wondered whether owning your part in the mess can actually open doors, this one might get you thinking about where your "problems of your own making" are leading you next.