Rebuilding Real Life is a faith and recovery podcast about what it actually looks like to rebuild your life after treatment, after the meeting, after the prayer, and after the moment where you realize something has to change.
Hosted by Mike, a husband, dad, Christian, and man in recovery, this podcast shares honest conversations and personal reflections about sobriety, faith, shame, family, daily habits, trust, service, and learning how to live differently one day at a time.
This is not about having everything figured out. It’s about applying faith in real life, staying honest, and finding hope in the middle of the rebuild.
Recovery doesn’t have to look the same for everyone, but I believe it starts with being willing to try. In this season finale, I talk about giving meetings, counseling, gratitude, faith, and other recovery practices an honest chance without ignoring your safety, values, or judgment. I also share why recovery can start as something you do for other people, but eventually has to become something you want for yourself.
I close out Season 1 with a simple challenge: take one safe recovery suggestion seriously enough to act on it, then keep looking for the path that helps you change. I also share where Rebuilding Real Life is headed in Season 2.
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31 Aug 2026
What Does "Recovery First" Mean?
People say recovery has to come first, and I believe that. But what does that actually mean when a meeting conflicts with one of my kids’ concerts, a family responsibility, or something else that matters?
In this episode, I talk about how I decide when the meeting needs to win and when showing up for my family is part of recovery too. I share the questions I ask myself, how planning ahead helps, and why I look at the larger pattern instead of judging everything by one night. For me, putting recovery first doesn’t mean the meeting always wins. It means I keep doing what helps me stay sober so I can keep showing up for the rest of my life.
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24 Aug 2026
Learning to Trust Yourself Again
During active addiction, I believed I could trust myself. That was part of the problem.
In this episode, I talk about the difference between real self-trust and false confidence. I share how honest boundaries, asking for help, and knowing myself better help me make decisions that protect my recovery without making my life smaller.
Sometimes the trustworthy decision is working through a hard moment. Sometimes it is calling someone safe who will listen and tell me the truth. Sometimes it is choosing not to enter a situation I do not need to test myself against.
It does not always hurt less. I am learning to trust myself more when I am hurt.
Rebuilding Real Life is about what recovery actually looks like after treatment, after the meeting, after the prayer, and after the moment something has to change.
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17 Aug 2026
What Kind of Life Am I Trying to Build?
Recovery cannot only be about what I am trying not to do. In this episode, I talk about the ordinary life I am trying to build, the moments that helped me realize I get to be present sober, and the values that now guide my choices.
I share how addiction slowly made my life smaller, how recovery is giving those parts back, and why living faithfully cannot depend on getting the exact ending I hope for.
If you know what you are trying to leave behind but are not sure what you want to build, start small. Choose one value that matters to you and take one ordinary action that reflects it.
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10 Aug 2026
I Stopped Drinking but Kept Escaping
Stopping drinking was real progress, but I hadn’t stopped looking for ways to escape how I felt.
In this episode, I share how kratom became something I organized my life around, why I later turned to THC for relief, and how I eventually recognized the pattern of cross-addiction. I also reflect on why recovery didn’t take root after my first treatment and what I’m learning to do when fear, anxiety, and discomfort show up now.
Before reaching for something to change how you feel, ask: What am I trying to escape from, and what would help me face it honestly?
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3 Aug 2026
When an Old Failure Comes Back
What happens when an old failure comes back and you learn it hurts people more than you understood?
In this episode, I share what happened when a difficult family conversation challenged what I thought I had already owned. I talk about the difference between taking responsibility and sentencing myself forever, and how meetings, gratitude, prayer, and support from people I trust helped me through a discouraging day in recovery.
I also reflect on Peter’s restoration after denying Jesus and how grace can make room for both responsibility and a life beyond our worst failures. And I share one practical question that helps me when I start replaying the past: Is there something I can honestly do about this now?
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27 Jul 2026
When Your Family Is Healing Too
Recovery doesn’t only affect the person who’s struggling. Families adapt too. They may learn to monitor moods, walk on eggshells, protect, rescue, avoid, or prepare for the next crisis.
In this episode, I share a family-systems exercise from treatment that gave me a picture I haven’t been able to forget: one person standing on a chair while everyone else organizes themselves around them. I talk about what “getting off the chair” looks like in my life today. It means becoming steadier, taking responsibility for my emotions, repairing things when I get them wrong, and giving my family new experiences with me one ordinary moment at a time.
This is a conversation about family healing, the fruit of the Spirit, and learning how hurt and connection can exist at the same time.
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20 Jul 2026
When Honesty Becomes Pressure
Honesty sounds simple: tell the truth, stop hiding, and own what you have done. But in recovery, even something true can become pressure when I use it to speed up forgiveness, rebuild trust on my timeline, protect the image I want people to have of me, or place every struggle on one person.
In this episode, I talk about what my marriage and recovery are teaching me about timing, ownership, choosing the right place to process difficult feelings, and becoming someone who can safely hear the truth from others. I also share how faith is helping me let go of the response and focus on how I am called to show up today.
Before a difficult conversation, it may be worth asking: Am I sharing this to be honest and connected, or am I hoping it will make someone respond the way I want?
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13 Jul 2026
What I Wish I Knew When Real Life Came Back
In this episode of Rebuilding Real Life, I talk about what I wish I knew when treatment ended and real life started coming back.
I thought doing the big hard thing would make life feel easier right away. But leaving treatment, starting IOP, moving into the fish house, moving into my apartment, and eventually finishing IOP taught me that recovery is not just about stopping something. It is about learning how to live differently.
This episode is about trust taking time, rebuilding structure after treatment, learning the difference between being alone and isolating, reaching out before crisis, and finding humility when fear gets loud.
Real life coming back does not mean recovery is failing. Sometimes it means recovery is finally being practiced where it matters most.
If you are newly out of treatment, finishing IOP, rebuilding trust, or wondering why life still feels hard even though you are doing the right things, this one is for you.
6 Jul 2026
Believing the Lies About Ourselves
In this episode of Rebuilding Real Life, Mike talks about the lies shame tells us in addiction and recovery, the belief that we are failures, unlovable, or too far gone to rebuild. He shares how those lies can change shape over time, how they show up in real life, and why recovery means learning to tell the truth without pretending the damage didn’t happen.
This episode is especially for anyone who has walked out of treatment with hope, only to realize real life does not automatically update its opinion of you.
Main takeaway: you might have failed at things, but you are not a failure. You might have done things that caused pain, but you are not unlovable. You are not the worst thing you’ve done.
3 Jul 2026
Welcome to Rebuilding Real Life
Welcome to Rebuilding Real Life, a faith and recovery podcast about what it actually looks like to rebuild your life after treatment, after the meeting, after the prayer, and after the moment where you realize something has to change.
In this intro episode, Mike shares what the podcast is, why he’s starting it, and what listeners can expect: honest conversations and personal reflections about sobriety, faith, shame, family, daily habits, trust, service, and learning how to live differently one day at a time.
This podcast is not about having everything figured out. It’s about applying faith in real life, staying honest, and finding hope in the middle of the rebuild.
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