When The Past Stops Owning You (The Daily Trudge)

When The Past Stops Owning You (The Daily Trudge)

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? Here, the RAW Recovery Podcast’s "Daily Trudge" segment zooms in on a big one: how to stop letting the past run the show. Host Dion chats candidly with his live audience about guilt, shame, regret and those old stories that still sting years later. With a mix of humour, straight talk and AA wisdom, he walks through how step work—especially Steps Four, Five, Eight and Nine—helps shift that weight.

As he puts it, doing a fifth step out loud is where the past starts to lose its grip, because secrets stop being secrets once they’re spoken. You’ll hear Dion unpack ego deflation, why honesty with another person matters, and how amends are about “justice and freedom,” not punishment. He reads from the AA daily reflection, then riffs on it in plain language, explaining why saying things out loud is psychologically different from just thinking them.

He keeps it real about fear too: fear of rejection, embarrassment, or not getting the response you want when you make amends. The conversation stays grounded in everyday recovery life—work stress, new job nerves, family worries, even joking shout-outs to kids listening in the background.

Through it all, Dion keeps circling back to one core idea: the only real amends is changed behaviour, and that’s how “the past stops owning you.” If you’re stuck replaying old mistakes, scared to face people you’ve harmed, or just wondering why step work feels so uncomfortable, this chat-style episode offers honest company and practical experience. Could it be time to stop standing in yesterday and start living today instead?