Episode 213: Misery is Optional

John Huey makes his eighth appearance on the podcast, and in this conversation, he is expressing his concern about agnostics and atheists who make themselves miserable by comporting to someone else’s ideas of recovery.

What we talked about

  • Sources of stress in AA.
  • Why people are seeking a secular alternative to traditional AA meetings.
  • The importance of holding yourself to your own standards.
  • Guarding against those who intrude into your personal life.
  • No need to feel guilty about not working the steps.
  • Don’t feel pressured to develop a “spiritual” program.
  • You have the power to decide not to be miserable.
  • Acceptance of someone as an individual is unconditional.

Links

John Huey’s Web Links
John Huey’s Website 
Link to John’s Secular Recovery Articles 

Previous Episodes Featuring John Huey
Episode 193: The Plague Year 
Episode 15: Deprogramming from Traditional AA 
Episode 141: Toward a Secular Recovery 
Episode 136: Are the 12 Steps Relevant? 
Episode 114: Who We Really Are — A Determined Atheist’s View
Episode 90: Core of Recovery 
Episode 3: Myth of the Angry Atheist