87: The 5 Pillars of Sobriety

AA just turned 91, and one of its simplest messages still hits hardest: “Let’s keep it simple.” In this episode, we reflect on Founders Day and why that idea still matters for anyone in recovery today.

We break down what addiction is really up against—not just substances, but the inner unrest they try to solve—and how tools like meetings, sponsorship, step work, and a spiritual awakening create a daily foundation for sobriety.

We also revisit the basics that keep recovery steady: a higher power, a sponsor, consistent meetings, working the steps, and service. Alongside AA, we highlight other 12-step programs like NA, CA, CODA, OA, GA, and Celebrate Recovery, with a focus on working a program rather than debating it.

If your mind feels loud or heavy, you’re not alone. We share a simple way to stay spiritually grounded one day at a time.

Helpful Links:
Learn more about Restore Detox Centers
Filling the Void book by Steven T. Ginsburg
Overcoming the Fear and Lies of Addiction e-book
How to Love and Set Boundaries Without Enabling Addiction e-book
Call Us for Addiction Recovery:  1-800-982-5530

DISCLAIMER:
Welcome to the Addiction Recovery podcast, brought to you by Restore Detox Centers. We are dedicated to providing valuable and insightful information on addiction recovery. However, it is essential to understand that the content shared in this podcast is intended for educational purposes only. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information presented, we cannot guarantee its completeness or suitability for individual circumstances. The topics discussed in this podcast are based on general knowledge and should not be considered a substitute for professional advice or treatment.

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Transcript

Founders Day And A Park Talk

Steven Ginsburg 0:00

AA Steve just celebrated an anniversary. AA celebrated its 91-year anniversary on something that we in AA call Founders' Day.

Steve Coughran 0:10

This is the Addiction Recovery Podcast with Steven T. Ginsburg, founder of Restore Detox Centers in Sunny, California. Enjoy your experience. Last night I understand that you went and spoke at a park, Steven. And uh I know you love speaking to people, especially telling your story and just uplifting people with the messages that you have. Uh maybe you could share a little bit more about how that went and what was that all about.

Steven Ginsburg 0:40

Yes. So, Steve, thank you. Good to be back with you, brother. Missing you and uh the summer's going by. Uh, last night was beautiful. There was a meeting that I was asked to come in rune, which is absolutely my pleasure. And they asked me to read out of a piece of AA approved literature, and I thought it was an apropos time to bring this topic up. Uh, you know, because AA Steve just celebrated an anniversary. AA celebrated its 91-year anniversary on something that we in AA call Founders' Day. That was on June 10th. And so this reading that I took out of As Bill Sees It, Bill W is the founder of AA, is a reading, an excerpt about him and Dr. Bob, who's the other founder of AA. So I read this page, which I'll read very quickly for you and I and for everyone who's joining us, and then just give you my take on it. We can kind of go from there, which was really simple. It went really well last night. I really appreciated

Bill W And Dr Bob Keep It Simple

Steven Ginsburg 1:36

it. It was well received. From the book, As Bill Sees It, which is a great book out there, folks. It's from page 18. Dr. Bob was my constant companion and partner in the great AA adventure. As the physician and great human, being that he was, he chose work with others as his prime AA vocation and achieved a record which in quantity and in quality none will ever surpass. Assisted by the incomparable Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, he without charge medically treated and spiritually infused 5,000 sufferers. In all the stress and strain of AA's pioneering time, no hard word ever passed between us. For this, I can thankfully say that credit was all his. I took my leave of Dr. Bob, knowing that he was to undergo a serious operation. The old broad smile was on his face as he said almost jokingly, remember, Bill, let's not louse this thing up. Let's keep it simple. I turned away, unable to say a word. That was the last time I ever saw him. And Steve, what I love about this page, those two men are the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. And Founders Day celebrates that. And so many people, millions have been helped globally through Alcoholics Anonymous. And what I love about that page, and what I love about the sentiment there, and what I love about where it holds true and applies today is you know, this is a simple process. This is a simple program. It's a simple solution. It's just, I am complicated. I am. And today, just today, I am not willing to complicate it. And by not complicating that solution, and by following consistent steps and approaches to my remission and I reprieve, just as AA is enjoying 91 years, I'm enjoying right now in real time live another day of sobriety, another 24-hour remission and reprieve.

The Spiritual Malady AA Targets

Steve Coughran 3:30

That's amazing. So, what do you think makes AA so effective? Is it just its simplicity? I mean, 91 years, that's pretty incredible, right?

Steven Ginsburg 3:40

You know, for a self-supported through its own contribution institution that does not govern, uh, I believe it's remarkable. And I believe it's because AA goes to the heart of what addiction and alcoholism really addresses from those who suffer from addiction and alcoholism, which is, you know, I suffer from a spiritual malady. I suffer from a vast emptiness, a void, if you would, that there was not enough drugs or alcohol that I could get my hands on or consume to fill it up. And Alcoholics Anonymous had the foresight and the fortitude to address how we can best treat that spiritual malady and best sustain individuals who suffer from that spiritual malady to have a daily reprieve from what ails them, where they try to fix it with alcohol, they can fix it with a spiritual awakening, with the work of the 12 steps, with the work of a sponsor, with the conception and the embracing of a power greater than themselves and with service. And those elements comprise and compose this trudge, this road to happy destiny, and allow people like myself to have a daily remission and reprieve.

Steve Coughran 4:57

I mean, that that's absolutely amazing. And when you do these talks, like you're such a great speaker. I know you do you spoke down in Texas at a church. When was that last year that you did that?

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Yeah, it was last year. Yeah, absolutely. It was actually last year, it was a year ago.

Steve Coughran 5:11

Yeah. Yeah, last year. And you've done a other venues as well. What do you like? Do people come up to you and and do they like what kind of questions do they ask you? And to to build on this as well, what kind of pain do you see out there? Yeah. Like when you're speaking to these people and you're getting this feedback in real, like real life.

Steven Ginsburg 5:30

So I want you to know my favorite part of any of that, where like the Lord equips me to be able to share with others, is that I want desperately to be with the people. Like I want to be with them collectively when I get a chance to engage with a group, uh, first of all, the Holy Spirit fills me up and I and it's on my heart just to pour in and lean in. And I truly trust God. Um, I really don't do it a ton of planning, um, but I understand what's coming and I have a foundational approach to the topics. But I love after the collective part is done, if I have a chance to have like last night, one of the traditions of the meeting is I stay at the podium as a speaker, and if people so choose to, they can line up and sort of greet me afterwards. I know, like you know me really well. You know, like that's like my jam. That's what I live for because I want that contact. And a lot of the dialogue is like how far along they are, how they're doing, where they saw the similarities and what I shared, like where they're struggling, where I'm struggling, how they understand. You know, I spoke a lot about the foundation, about the about the base foundation, that that stone foundation of, you know, the approach to sobriety. And so those common talking points. And and, you know, like listen, if I drift, if I'm not focused on the basics, if I'm not going to meetings, if not, I'm not engaged with my sponsor, if the steps aren't actively live in my life, if I'm not being of service, if I'm not content connected to that power greater than myself, like I'm in danger of relapse. And so are they. So it's those common elements where we come together, and that's where I just want to continue. And I get very impassioned as I am now, just talking about it. I want to just support people and implore people. You know, we've got to be intentional and have that sense of urgency with the pursuit of that ongoing remission and reprieve.

Steve Coughran 7:22

Yeah, absolutely. No, and you have to be connected to people, and that's why I love when you get out there. I mean, you do that every week at Restore, you hold group meetings. Yes. How do you know what to speak on when it comes to your group meetings?

The Five Pillars That Prevent Relapse

Steven Ginsburg 7:35

That's a great question. So, oh my gosh, I love that question. Thank you for asking it. So many times, Steve, kind of like similar to what you and I do, like so many times things I'm experiencing, I will I will pivot and I'll realize, okay, this is a good talking point for group. Um, sometimes it's it's when I'm watching, you know, it breaks my heart if I'm watching an alumni struggle or if I'm encountering a family that has a loved one struggling. I look into the heart of why they're struggling and how they're struggling. And I I apply what I view to be the Alcoholics Anonymous solution to it, and through Christ, what the solution to it is. And I'll pivot that into a talking point and a topic for group. Or sometimes, you know, last night I spoke at that meeting, but I also had group yesterday. So, like I did my talk that I was going to do last night for the meeting at group, and I read them the same excerpt I just read you. And then I was able to just give a little bit of a lead afterwards, and then we went around the horn, which we love to do at restore, and people are able to give their feedback and we're able to cross-process. But I always, always, no matter whether it's group or even if I share at a meeting, or if actually someone asks me, and I like describing it like this: if someone asks me to come and ruin their meeting and speak at a meeting, I always will go over what I view as the five pillars, the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous. You know, the conception of a power greater than ourselves, a sponsor with working knowledge of the 12 steps in our lives, uh, meeting makers make it, a meeting a day, the 12 steps being a present part of our lives, working the 12 steps and the 12 steps working in our lives and giving us that psychic change and that spiritual awakening, and then being of service. Those are the five things that make up that comprise the cement and the foundation of sobriety and of alcoholics anonymous. I always talk on those things in one way or another, somehow, some way.

Steve Coughran 9:31

It's just going back to those fundamentals every time. Yes, sir. Every time. Let me ask you this because AA has been around for 91 years. Are there other like frameworks or organizations that like are a competitor to AA, or is AA like the gold standard? Because I I could only imagine after 91 years, there's splinters, just like there's with religion, right? Different faiths splinter off, they have different twists on things, or they just see things slightly different. What

AA Offshoots And Choosing A Program

Steve Coughran 10:01

are you seeing out there with well?

Steven Ginsburg 10:02

I kind of love it though, Steve. I mean, and it like, you know, like Coca-Cola was the original, right? So like AA is kind of viewed as the original, but like, you know, you've got narcotics anonymous, you've got Coda, which is Codependence Anonymous, you've got CA, which is Cocaine Anonymous, you've got OA, Overeater's Anonymous, you've got GA, which is Gambler's Anonymous, you've got Celebrate Recovery, which is a completely just singularly Christ-based approach and pursuit to the 12 steps, and it it sort of umbrellas recovery for everything and every sort of thing that would ail a human being. So, yes, those are offshoots of it. I am an AA baby, uh, and I wasn't that big of a drinker. I just have always I've loved the spiritual contact and connection in AA. The Oxford group, which is a Christian group, was a big part of the founding elements and foundation, along with Dr. Young and Bob Smith, Dr. Bob and Bill W. These were Christians who pursued and had this divinely appointed pursuit, you know, that they put pen to paper on. So I found my way in AA, but I want to encourage people, and I think they're all great. What I think is awful and detrimental is no program. You know, if you're a stone cold addict and you feel more at home in narcotics anonymous, go to NA. I'm more of an addict, but I feel at home in Alcoholics Anonymous. So I choose to work my sobriety in AA. I just want people to participate in a working, a live working, compartmentalized uh program of 12-step based spiritual-based work, because that's what has been proven time and time again. And the 91 years speaks to it globally, millions of people, uh, the solution proves itself again and again and again.

Steve Coughran 11:47

Yeah. And like you said, it is just like the five pillars, just sticking to those five pillars, repeating them over and over and over again, and making that your mantra as you continue to live this clean and sober life.

Morning Mind Chaos And Daily Footwork

Steven Ginsburg 11:58

And you know, Steve, I don't know which one keeps me sober. And because I don't know which one keeps me sober, I choose on a daily basis to have them all be part of my day-to-day life. And that's not hard. That's something I get to do. That's not something I have to do or want to do. That's something I get to do. And I take great joy in it because when I wake up, I want to share on this for one second, because a lady came up to me and thanked me for sharing on it last night. Like when I wake up, my head is crazy. Like my head is mixed up. Like there is harrowing thoughts in my head. And that's okay because those thoughts aren't real. That's not the factual basis or the spiritual approach to my day. And so that's why there's a regimented way that I approach upon awakening my day and my path within those 24 hours. And that gets my head in the right order. That gets me spiritually fit for the day. And then I go about the business of getting to participate with those elements. And again, I have another day of remission and reprieve through the footwork. It's through the footwork.

Steve Coughran 12:58

Yeah, through the footwork. And you always talk about it. And I just I love the the simplicity of AA. I love how you convey that simplicity and everything that you speak about and how lucky the group was that that listened to you speak last night. So thanks for sharing a little bit more about you know this wonderful organization that blesses the lives of millions and millions of people around the world and just your part of it.

Steven Ginsburg 13:23

Listen, brother, I appreciate us talking on this. I'm so I am grateful. Uh, I'm filled with gratitude. Uh on the 12th, I had 21 years, seven months of ongoing sobriety. I'm more than halfway through my 21st year, but right now, within the context of this 24 hours, you know, I've been to a meeting today. I'm on the I'm on the horn right now, doing a podcast with you. I prayed well this morning. Um, I'm I'm celebrating this trudge, this walk with purpose that the Lord has put me on. And I want other people to have this. It beats the heck out of the alternative because this disease

Gratitude Plus How To Reach Us

Steven Ginsburg 13:58

is fatal. It's always death and institutions. So thank you for your part in helping us share this critical information.

Steve Coughran 14:04

Yeah, absolutely. Great to be with you, brother. And for you listening out there, we always appreciate your feedback. You could always reach out to us at hello at restore detoxcenters.com, and we'll catch you in the next episode. Cheers.