Topic: Other Higher Powers (NSFW)Topic: Other Higher Powers (NSFW)
Sober Cast: An (unofficial) Alcoholics Anonymous Podcast AA
Multiple AA speakers at a VicYPAA round-up share candid, sometimes NSFW stories about the “other higher powers” they chased in sobriety and drinking. Their shares focus on ego, shame, swapped addictions and how embracing a higher power and the 12 steps changed their lives.
47:12•26 Oct 2026
Other Higher Powers: When Sobriety Meets Status, Sex and Self-Will
Episode Overview
- Alcohol is often just the first addiction to go; many people then lean on other behaviours like smoking, drugs, food, sex or work to cope.
- Giving power to careers, partners, status or money can be as destructive as alcohol when they become the main source of worth and security.
- Shame and self-centred fear are described as core drivers of addiction, making spiritual work and honest inventory essential.
- Lasting change comes when people hand their whole life, not just the drinking, over to a higher power and stop trying to manage everything themselves.
- Service, meetings, sponsorship and daily spiritual practices are portrayed as practical ways to stay grounded and connected in sobriety.
“Shame eats away at us and it stops us living our lives.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This round-up from VicYPAA in Victoria, Australia, brings together three sober alcoholics sharing raw, often funny, sometimes NSFW stories about “other higher powers” – all the things they let control their lives before real spiritual change showed up. Tracy, a former media personality, talks about giving her power away to fear, bosses, the radio station, the media, her husband, and codependency.
She describes years of trying to fix herself with liver cleanses, metaphysical work and controlled drinking, only to end up in blackout shame: “Shame eats away at us and it stops us living our lives.” Her turning point came as she realised it wasn’t just the alcohol, but “a lack of spirituality in my life that was making me so unhappy.” Malcolm brings dark humour and blunt honesty about chasing “property, prestige, power and sex” as his other gods.
From strip clubs and cocaine deals to a $25 million company and Russian gangsters in Dubai, his story shows how self-will can run wild even in sobriety. His sponsor’s direction is simple but brutal: when Malcolm runs his own life, “it’s being managed by an idiot.” Letting go and becoming “Joe average” turns out to be where real peace sits.
Gail shares how alcohol was her only higher power, the “full stop at the end of my sentence”, and how, in sobriety, obsessions with men, sex and money just became new ways to obsess about herself.
She strips it back to the core AA message: “Selfishness and self-centredness is the root of every single one of my problems.” Her story highlights the ongoing need to return to a higher power, especially through Steps Six and Seven, and to find genuine happiness in service, honesty and showing up for others. If you’ve ever swapped one addiction for another or clung to status, relationships or money as your “god”, this one might hit very close to home.
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