PODCAST

LOL Sober

Nelson H.

How to laugh your ass off in sobriety nelsonh.substack.com

All Episodes

4:03

An amusing therapy suggestion

LOL Sober ·

2023/12/12

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIScomedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I started therapy recently, and it’s been going really well. She’s a very good therapist and pushes me in a way that I find helpful.The other day, she said something like, “I have some homework for you that I’d like you to start doing. It’s this thing

4:04

The forgiveness vs. permission debate

LOL Sober ·

2023/12/07

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!You’ve heard the phrase a million times: It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.In general, I have found that to be true. You usually are better off saying sorry for something than asking in advance… but I am going to make the case for why

8:01

Avoid the funhouse!

LOL Sober ·

2023/12/05

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a meeting the other day where the topic was this sentence:Working the program—especially the daily inventory of Step Ten—helps us make our way through the funhouse of personal responsibility.I immediately gravitated toward the last five words:

6:06

A funny story about sponsorship

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/30

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at several meetings recently where we read from “Working with others,” the chapter of the Big Book that lays out how one alcoholic can be of service to another. That inevitably led me to think back on my early days of sponsoring people.I had a few

5:57

I still can't handle getting dunked on

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/28

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I get these awesome coupons every month from my favorite pet store, and I recently missed the window to use one. It expired on Oct. 26, and I went into the pet store on Nov. 25. I knew it had expired but I thought I would give it a shot anyway.I did set

7:03

Do you need new friends to get sober?

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/23

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!Happy Thanksgiving! Of all the things to be thankful for today, make sure you take a moment to be grateful for your sobriety. I have some thoughts on navigating the holidays but I will share those in a few weeks.Today, I wanted to talk about Twitter, or

4:21

A hilarious meme to contemplate

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/21

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I saw a hilarious meme the other day on one of my favorite Instagram feeds, Sarcastic AA memes. Look it up—it’s well worth your time.This one says “This God stuff is okay but I need a solution that is instant and temporary.”That one made me laugh because

6:01

Put down the blamethrower

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/16

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a meeting recently where a guy said, “I need to put down the blamethrower.” I laughed out loud—quite loud, actually. I was completely caught off guard by the cleverness of that phrase, and I even sighed a little bit wishing I had come up with

6:09

Happy sober anniversary to me!

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/14

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!On Nov. 10, I celebrated 15 years of sobriety. Hooray for me! I still can’t believe it: For several years, I couldn’t make it till noon every day without some kind of substance to change my mood. Then I went to rehab and haven’t done a single drug or

7:55

Letting go of the "go-getter"

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/09

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!Somebody called me a go-getter the other day, and it was intended as a compliment and I interpreted it as a compliment. Honestly, it is a compliment—a go-getter hustles and makes things happen and is relentless. Those are all positive things, right?Well,

4:32

The "no opinion on outside issues" thing

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/07

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was at a meeting the other day when we read the 12-step tradition that says certain fellowships ought to have no opinion on outside issues. I have to say, the longer I’ve been sober, the more grateful I am for that tradition.When I first got sober… not

7:10

Happy Halloween (also: some trauma!)!

LOL Sober ·

2023/11/02

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!On Oct. 31, 1999, I was in college and got very sick with something called bacterial meningitis. It’s a freak illness that can kill you in 24 hours, sometimes less. I felt sick that Halloween night, ended up in an ambulance, then an emergency helicopter

9:24

RIP, Matthew Perry

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/31

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was very sad on Friday night when news broke that Matthew Perry had died. I had been a Friends fan, and I liked a few of his movies, too. I became aware later in life that he’d had all sorts of struggles with pills and alcohol, and then he had several

6:32

You are what you eat (spiritually)

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/26

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was talking to a friend at the gym the other day and he said something that hit me hard. He is a physical trainer, and a good one. He asked me how my workouts were going, and I said I was in the best shape of my adult life (at least since high

4:59

Another ode to the old-timers

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/24

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I had two things pop up recently in recovery that made me sit back and say, “Holy s**t, thank God for our sober founding fathers and mothers.”First, I read “The Vicious Cycle” out of the back of the Big Book the other day, and it was written by one of the

6:23

You know you have a lot of lifeguards, right?

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/19

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I was talking to someone who I used to hang out with during my first year of sobriety, and one of the things he mentioned to me was how bumpy my entire life had been back then. That wasn’t his opinion—those were direct quotes from me at the time.I

8:29

I don't miss the uppers-and-downers

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/17

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I had a pretty wild weekend, at least by 45-year-old sober guy standards. My wife and I took the kids back to our college, which is a massive football power school. It was Homecoming weekend, so there was an emphasis on people like me coming back to their

12:58

An autopsy of HALT

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/12

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I’ve written many times about HALT—Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired—and its impact. I have found it to be a very valuable series of things to ask yourself when you are sober but feel a little off. It’s not always the answer. But I love HALT as a starting

3:24

Faking it but making it

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/10

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!My wife said something interesting to me the other day.She said, “Every time I tell someone that you were really irritated about something, they can’t believe it.”I laughed and said, “I guess I fooled them, huh?”She then proceeded to tell me how that is actually

4:31

Two terrible words for sober people

LOL Sober ·

2023/10/05

If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces right now, but paid subscribers do have access to monthly premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!I caught myself recently using the words “always” and “never” pretty freely when I was describing people or things. By that, I mean saying “You always do x, y and z” to someone. Or, “You never listen when I tell you stuff.”I noticed it because I was at a

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