Welcome to the Sword of Sure podcast. Where doubt looms, fear whispers, and the only way forward is through. I'm Samar Carbo, and if you've ever felt like you're just sort of sure about what you're doing, you're not alone. This is where we face the uncertainty. Push past the hesitation, and keep going anyway way. So take a breath, step in, and let's move forward together. Hello and welcome to the Sort of Shore podcast. As you may have heard in the beginning, my name is Samar Carbo and I am bringing you an awesome conversation. Today I spoke with Tim Lyons, founder of Sober Awakening. It is so awesome to see people doing great work that just opens the world up to people who are occasionally forgotten. You think they're taken care of because there's a 12 step program? Well, he offers a different option. Let's check it out and have a listen.

I'm Tim Lyons. I am the president, CEO and founder of Sober Awakening. Sober Awakening is a 501c3 nonprofit and it is our goal to help bring spiritual development resources to people who are in sobriety. And with that in mind, we have established a monthly podcast of our own. We hope to build an online community and maybe move forward into the world of doing in person workshops and retreats and that stuff. But it's all about providing spiritual development resources to people in sobriety. That's what we're up to. And this kind of came about because we, we feel that. And it's just based on my own experience. Once people get, get physically sober, they find that they're still spiritually seeking and there's a lot of ways to go about it out there. But I have gone down a variety of different rabbit holes and I found peace in so many different spiritual avenues and I want my exploration to be able to be brought to as many people possible so they can kind of pick and choose what they like, you know, to kind of get some spiritual foothold in their own life. And we feel that when people do that, it'll keep them sober and it'll also just make it so that life just kind of unfolds before them and they, they really get in touch with their purpose. I established Sober Awakening as a nonprofit entity in the state of Illinois in August of 2023. I was able to get the 501c3 charity public charity status in March of 2024. And the next question was, well, how do we. We had our mission, we knew what we wanted to do, we had a website, and the first step was how do we start building awareness of Sober Awakening? And myself and my board thought the first, best step would be to establish a monthly podcast to try to bring our message and, you know, to more people and to generate as much interest as we could. It is my first time starting a business, aside from being a kid and trying to open up lemonade stands and things like that, or, you know, establish myself as the best resource for my neighbors to go to when they need their grass mode when I was, you know, in high school or in grade school for some extra money. But as far as establishing a for real business entity with a tax ID number and everything like that, yes, this is my first time ever doing it. Have never, never thought I would found a nonprofit. It just kind of happened when I finally found myself secure enough in my sobriety to start talking about it and to start bringing my message to people. I of course, went to my wife to see what her comfort level was, and she's like, yeah, you really should do this. So I was like, well, what's the best place to start getting my word out, my story, what I want to impress on the world? And it was to build a website and start from there. So I go into my website vendor, which I use GoDaddy, and when I'm looking for different domains and I forget how they come up with it, but you put in what it's about or, you know, and then they shoot you back. Some things that are open and available and the name Sober Awakening was available and it was a dot org. Now, because my first couple of jobs was in the nonprofit fundraising arena, I knew that a lot of nonprofits use the.org, you know, for their websites. It's not something it's. It's not a rule that's set in stone, but it's kind of a traditional thing. A nonprofit's a dot org, just like an education institution is. Edu commercialbusiness.com I know in a lot of ways things aren't locked into that anymore, but, you know, at my age, that's kind of what I remember. And I thought, wow.org well, maybe one day I'll set this up as a nonprofit. And so that just kind of, kind of got the ball rolling from there. The website was in existence. I think I put that together in about 2022, and we didn't go and establish the Nonprofit entity until 2023. I have a lot of support from my family. You know, when you're in, you know, you're going to go out in the world and you're Going to say, yeah, I had a drinking problem that I, you know, put aside 10 years ago. They've got to be okay with you going out and saying that, you know, a big thing in alcoholism recovery is, you know, if you're aligned with Alcoholics Anonymous, anonymity is a big thing now. You know, I mean, a lot of people don't mind when others know they're sober, because others who are sober or trying to. Who are trying to get sober find people who have accomplished that. Very inspirational. So they've been, you know, my family's been behind me sharing this message with the world. My board has been very supportive. My friends have all been very supportive. As far as the work, I've done most of it myself. Now, there have been some contributions from my board members as far as the development of the logo that we use and everything like that. But I've had a lot of emotional, moral, and some financial support in the way of donations. But as far as the work, I've done most of it myself.

Now, a little bit earlier, you mentioned when you were about ready to embark on this journey, you mentioned being secure enough in your sobriety to bring your message to a large audience. What was that walk like for you? Was it that you wanted to be able to tell the story properly, or you just wanted to make sure you weren't going back?

Well, I tell you what, you have to be very secure in your sobriety. I had to get to a point where I knew I was not going back, where I never wanted to go back, because now that the whole world knows I'm a sober person, the last thing I ever want to do is be seen out at the bar having a beer, you know, so I needed to be secure in myself, knowing that I fully had separated myself from any of the compulsion to ever go back to drinking. And then I had to be secure in my own identity and feel safe and confident that even though people knew that about me, regardless of whether they judged me or not, I was okay with it, and I wasn't married to others perceptions of me because they'll be what they are. I'm helping more people by being open about it than I would be doing good by keeping it to myself or staying anonymous. Not that it's bad if anybody's anonymous. People are sober and anonymous their whole lives, and that is just fine. But I was secure enough in myself, where I was with sobriety and where I was with what people were going to say about me to where I felt like, I'm cool. Let's go out and do this.

So you work with people in this. What does your community look like? Is it something you provide to people? I mean, as a nonprofit, what is the service?

Okay, so right now I don't really have an established community per se. It's basically we are in our infancy stage and anybody who's attracted to our mission, which is to help provide, you know, resources for people who are spiritually seeking and people who are sober or sober minded hopefully will be attracted to sober awakening. And we say sober, like me, who doesn't drink anymore, I don't drink anymore. And we also hope that our, you know, we attract some people who are sober minded. There are people in the world who, although they do drink every once in a while, they would not mind if alcohol just ceased to exist. You know, they, they are sober minded. It's not a part of what they do or anything that they think about. So my community consists of those two type of people, sober and sober minded. But like I said, we don't have a formal community yet. But to, to go a step further, these are people though that in their sober sobriety or sober mindedness, they're spiritually seeking and they're looking for a deeper connection with spirit and no matter how they find it, the higher power. And with that, you know, I believe that people's life purpose and life path will unfold in front of them. And so I guess we have sober and sober minded spiritual seekers. Imagine you're sober and you're just looking for some deeper spiritual connection. Like myself, I was going back to Catholic church and while I still do that, it just wasn't getting it done. So I started looking into all kinds of other spiritual avenues and discovering things in these other religious traditions that are so that makes so much sense. And then on top of that, I love talking about other things like healing modalities like Reiki therapy and breath work and meditation and that type of stuff and grounding and earthing. I've had wonderful experiences with those. Those are some things that I hope to talk about within our community and bring more information on those type of things to people as so can you.

Talk to me about. And having never been in the position, I'm speaking entirely glibly, so please forgive me if I say this wrong, but there are, from what I understand, just a number of lines in the sand that people have a tendency to go up to. And then there are the things that stand in the way of saying I'm never going to drink again or I am a sober person now, can you talk about some that you've maybe run across? Because it seems like you're almost like in a sponsor position for people. So maybe if it's you or others, can you talk a little bit about the almost self doubt, specific scenarios that people end up in on their way to sobriety?

Yes. So, you know, a lot of those lines in the sand that people on their way to becoming sober, they'll try to negotiate with themselves and they'll try to set rules. And what you get to is a point where you realize that none of that stuff works. And the only true way out of it is to really embrace who you are, embrace what you've been doing, look at yourself in the mirror and you have to make the decision to change, and then you do. But it's not until you truly make that decision that you're going to find sobriety. And that's at a different point than for, you know, for everybody.

About a year and a half ago now, I lost a friend of mine to alcoholism. He's one of my best friends in the world and it was sad to see him go. But it so much more put a fine point on what can be stolen and lose when we're just chasing after something instead of changing ourselves.

And you know what? You know, there's so much, there's so much great life out there. And life can be, even the challenges can be enjoyable when you're looking at them through, through sober eyes. You know, and I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. You know, I don't like hearing that because we feel, we feel really with sober awakening. You know, people get physically sober, but they never find the spark that gives them passion or purpose in life. And we feel that when they do develop a deeper spiritual connection, a connection to their own higher self, then their divine purpose will be revealed. The things that they're passionate about will be revealed. Doors will open up for him. I'm sure your friend tried many times to get sober, but just couldn't find the spark to stay there.

Yeah, that's absolutely true. He tried so many times. He tried his best, you know, it wasn't there for him.

He tried his best. And we hope we find people that are physically sober and now they're looking for something else and they want to take up, you know, meditation or some type of different spiritual practice. They want to start diving into any of the disciplines we like to talk about, anything that's out there that we can bring them information on. And when they do that, not only will they Find, you know, they'll find their life purpose, and it'll kind of unfold in front of them, but, you know, it's going to keep them sober. It's going to give them to some. Something to hang on to, as opposed to, you know, kind of the nothingness that people who get sober can feel like they're experiencing in the beginning. Yeah.

That's so deep. I love the way you describe that. That nothingness, because it is. You just take something away, and then there's a void.

Yeah, Yeah. I tell people a metaphor, and I actually came up with this. I didn't hear about it anywhere, but sobriety is like going out to sea on a boat and having a destination that you're. You're bound for. So you get on the boat and you're watching the shoreline dissipate or disappear behind you, whatever. You're sailing away from your old life, and that shoreline is getting, you know, further and further in the distance, and you feel great about it because you see that you're leaving that old life behind. But you know what? Eventually it disappears. And then you turn around and you look at what's in front of you, and there's nothing but a vast ocean, and you can't see the other side. You know, there's something there. You know, you want it. You know, it's supposed to be better, but right now, you're just in the middle of the ocean, and that's where people get lost.

That is an incredibly powerful image, and I hope you use that.

Yeah.

All the time.

Yeah. Yeah. And where I hope sober awakening finds people is when they're in the middle of that ocean because they start to lose faith that there's anything on the other side. And then a lot of times, unfortunately, they turn the boat around and go back to the shore they're familiar with.

Can you tell me about Big Timmy?

Big Timmy, Higher self is my higher self. We all have a higher self. It is the essence of who we are. It exists outside of our body. It is our soul. It's. It's out there. It knows all the answers, and we can tap into it anytime. And I talk to my higher self. Some people call it the Holy Spirit. It's. It's our connection to the divine. It's. It's. You can tap into it. You can talk to it. I go in when I meditate, and I just ask my higher self what I need to best know for today. But, yeah, Big Timmy, higher self talks to me all the time.

Oh, that's awesome. I love that, yeah. So then I do want to ask one final question that I always ask. Try to tailor it for you. What advice would you have for someone who is where you were or is trying to get to where you are to help other people in their sobriety journey who are feeling imposter syndrome or self doubt along the way?

If you have begun your sobriety journey and you are physically sober, but you still feel an emptiness and a void, go back to whatever makes you curious spiritually. You know, it doesn't necessarily have to be your dogmatic religion that you were raised in. Is there anything you think is cool? Do you, do you find an interest in what the Buddha used to say? Do you find an interest in new age spiritual philosophies? Have you ever wanted to embrace or try to start meditating, anything like that? Start trying things to get outside of the box? For me, the spiritual awakening came when I started meditating. Something that, you know, just, just took hold of me and they're off. I went. But try to go with whatever interests you, whatever sparks you. Don't be afraid to start researching whatever spiritual direction that is and follow it. Dive in and learn more.

And that is such a good point. Go to whatever makes you curious. That's the kickstart. That's the catalyst for anything curious.

Yes. And there's a lot of mainstream Christians out there that would probably shy away from that. And I'm not going to tell you they're right or they're wrong. I am a Catholic, but I fully embrace a lot of Buddhist, Hindu, Buddhist and Hindu philosophy as well as, like I said, hermeticism and things like that. There are, there are some religions or there are some religious folks out there who will think it's not a good idea to, you know, stray too far from home because that's, you know, going to lead you down a dark path. And I don't believe there is, there is a dark path. As long as we keep an open heart, we, you know, keep love at the forefront and we just simply stay curious. We're just, just starting our effort right now. We have three podcasts up. You know, one is a sober, middle aged, 40 year old mother who has actually missed California, USA and now she's sober and she taps into her intuitive abilities all the time to help her navigate life. The second one was a gentleman who is now sober and he went and studied yogic philosophy with a guru in the Himalayas. Talks all about energy and meditation and that type of thing. And the third one is a close personal friend of mine who embraces a sober lifestyle and she is a full blown intuitive slash psychic who had a near death experience.

Well, thank you for being on the podcast. You take care now.

All right, we'll see you later.

All right, that was Tim Lyons of sober [email protected] if you believe you're not quite ready for the community that Tim talked about on the show, then it might help to have a seven day guide just to get you out of your slump that you'll [email protected] it'll get you out of that slump and onto the next thing and it leads right into the work that is being done. A Sober Awakening with Tim Lyons so if today's conversation sparked something in you, whether it was the tension between calling and capability, or that quiet war between your vision and your inner critic, I hope you'll take this as a sign you are not alone. And you're not wrong for feeling this way. You're just early in your evolution. If you're ready to stop asking if you're supposed to be where you are and start owning your next chapter with confidence, let's connect. You can reach me directly at sort of surepodmail.com or follow along for upcoming guests and some bonus insights. And if this episode helped you see yourself differently, consider sharing it with one person who's silently questioning their worth too, who has that self doubt, who's not sure if they belong in the big rooms. We don't outgrow imposter syndrome by hiding it. We outgrow it by showing up. Anyway, thank you all for listening. We'll see you next time. Later Days.

Sat Sam.