If you know me, you know I’m a die-hard NCAA women’s volleyball fan – a proud Nebraskan through and through. This year was my 7th straight national championship trip, and it might be the most meaningful one yet. Just a week after Texas A&M handed my undefeated Cornhuskers a brutal season-ending loss, I was in Kansas City…cheering hard for the Aggies. That spontaneous “Why not us?” chant that started back in the Sweet 16 somehow carried them all the way to the national title. Against every odd, they took down three No. 1 seeds in a row and became national champions yesterday. There were so many moments where they looked done—down big, momentum gone, backs against the wall. And yet, time after time, they rallied. It was pure grit. Resilience in real time. Watching it, something clicked: this is our sobriety journey. We get knocked down. We face days that feel impossible. Our backs press against the wall with cravings, shame, memories, anxiety. But we keep showing up. We rally. We refuse to quit. And that same quiet, stubborn, day-after-day grit is what wins in recovery too. Texas A&M showed that “Why not us?” isn’t just a chant; it’s a mindset. Your sobriety story can end the same way: champion. Keep showing up. Never give up. Why not you? Who else caught any of the tournament or felt a similar “rally” in your own journey lately? Drop it below. Grit wins!

For those of you who don't know, SOBER Method would not exist had it not been for Samantha Alison Thomas and me finding each other so randomly years ago when I was at peak addiction. She somehow saw who I was underneath the mess and brought that man to life. Sadly, I'd lose this precious woman at the hands of a murderous drunk driver on August 1, 2020. Today, December 15th would have been her 30th birthday. I struggle to believe that I would even be alive today had we never met. It has taken me five years to heal enough to begin thinking with clear intent of the life ahead of me more than the pain of loss. I wish none of us ever had to endure that type of pain yet the strength gained gave me the fire to take this unique idea called SOBER Method to the world. That you could continuously improve yourself, rewire your brain, and leave addiction squarely behind you for a greater life than you could ever imagine. I stand ready to help anyone who is serious about winning a permanent sober life. As the illustrious founder of this community would say, "How's your mental health?" :)

There’s a special kind of rush that nothing in my using days ever touched: doing something for another person in recovery when they don’t expect it at all. - Slipping a $20 gas card into a jacket pocket - DMing a guy at 2 a.m. who posted “I don’t think I can do this” with nothing more than “You already are. I’m up if you need me.” - Dropping groceries on a single mom’s porch who’s white-knuckling her first week, no note, just gone before she opens the door. No applause, no credit, no “look at Massimo the saint.” Just the act. Every single time I do it, something inside me levels up. I don't have cravings any longer yet my problems shrink, and my sobriety feels even more bulletproof. It’s like topping off my own tank by giving someone else gas. Science calls it “helper’s high.” I call it free, renewable rocket fuel for long-term recovery. The Stoics called it living according to Justice and human connection. Whatever the label, it works. You don’t need money or grand gestures. A ride to someone without a car, a “you’ve got this” voice memo, paying for the coffee of the person behind you in line who looks like they’re on day three; tiny, anonymous, pure. Try one this week. No announcement, no tag, no story. Just do it and feel what happens on the inside when nobody’s watching. Then come back and tell us (without naming names) how it felt. I guarantee your sobriety will feel a little taller. Who’s in for one random act of SOBER Method kindness this week?

Sometimes we find ourselves in boxes or seen as just one particular type of person. When we look at each other, it's easy to see the person we've already decided you/I are. We should practice the habit of seeing more than what meets the eye or what we've decided to see.. Humans are simple and complicated, beautiful messes and pristine, and sometimes downright stubborn in our ways. Ah humanity, what a ride, yes?

I forgive myself for past mistakes