Sober Not Somber Hour

Hey all. Welcome to Sober Not Somber Hour. There's an issue. My glass is not full. It's. It's empty. Does not mean I'm not optimistic today. Gosh, we could talk all about optimism, but here we are today, Sober Not Somber Hour. Quickly, drink of choice. One of my favorites from Germany, Funkle Verts zero. And it is an alcohol removed wine from Germany. It is one of my absolute favorites. The name loosely in translation. Translation is the spicy sparkler. I'm just going to welcome you all in. Hi, Carrie, Welcome.

Perfect for a very warm spring day in Minnesota. Where's everyone logging in from? Let me know, let me know. And you have a non alcoholic beverage of choice while you're joining me for Sober Not Somber Hour. It's not required, but you might want to. So today's topic. And by the way, I'm Jen Varale, your host, Sober Not Somber Hour. Today's topic is that it is a gift to be in service to others. Cheers. Carrie. Yeah, I have. This is a lesson learned through sobriety of 10 years of continuous sobriety from alcohol.

And I'm thinking about the AA model that a lot of times gets a bad rap because higher power maybe is, you know, assumed that it's associated with a religion. There's a lot of stigma around AA even, which is surprising. I personally, that was the only way that I got sober. And I went to AA meetings pretty regularly for the first three years before I sought out some of their social experiences in other communities. However, that community and the, the work that sponsors do in that program, that is of service, that is a gift of service.

If you are volunteering or in service to some other community, giving of your time, energy, talents for free. Drop that in the chat. I would love to hear, yes, I volunteer. No, not at the moment, but it's something I'm thinking about, whatever that may be. Let me know. I personally, I'm just gonna share that I was very skeptical about being a sponsor in AA once I had enough time under my belt. So I had like a year of sobriety and I thought, am I qualified to be a sponsor? Am I qualified to help others?

And I valued that role as so significant that I shied away from it. I thought, I don't know if I can help others. I really didn't know that. And I think it's a beautiful thing, especially in aa, the idea of giving of your time and talent in service to others for free. Because wow. I think of how many people would not find their way to sobriety if like AA had okay, you walked in the doors and now I want you to pay a hundred dollars for counseling for the month. No, that would translate into a trip to the liquor store and purchasing $100 worth of an alcoholic beverage.

So I'm just thinking about the beauty of how people in AA and just this morning I chatted with a man who has 20 plus years of sobriety. His work just under the radar. Like he is meeting with men early in sobriety, you know, in their late 20s, early 30s on a daily basis, 6am in the morning, 7am doesn't really talk about it, but he shared that with me and I just was like, wow, what a gift that he has given that over 20 years to help others find sobriety. Cheers to that Bill. This is for you. So as I'm thinking about the beauty of that program, I, going back to my story, never really saw myself fit to be a sponsor to others.

However, I had a lived experience and someone, actually three women were sponsors for me. So I am forever grateful for them and that they had the confidence enough to step up and say, you know, my lived experience is enough. I'm going to try to help others. For me, my gifts of service when it comes to AA and helping others who are struggling with alcohol use is the work that I'm doing right now just being an advocate, being open about my journey in corporate America where there's a huge amount of stigma to go away to treatment to get help.

And it still exists. And so my work became less about feeling confident to sponsor individuals in AA and and has shifted more into the public space to be more of an advocate. I feel like that that's my gift to give and I've spent countless hours over years just donating that sort of time to my community and co founding Sauna and Sobriety, which I just went on with my co founder today on Instagram to say two years we've been doing these events. They're not money makers but I love them. We, you know, break even sometimes make a little extra done.

17 events to bring people that are sober, curious, early in recovery, in long term recovery, together to celebrate what it looks like to be in long term sobriety. So I consider that part of my service, like a social good service. So yeah, is it Danny Lee B. Hi, welcome. If either of you have volunteered or give of service to any communities, I'd love to hear it. I mean I just, I'm fascinated by it. I would say I was a very selfish, non giving person when I was in active addiction. So up through age 40.

I didn't see the value in giving back in that way to community in any way. I just was very. I was in a little bit of a selfish mode. Dang, that's really good. So just to say, like a little encouragement to explore your gifts, what are your lived experiences that might translate fairly easily into helping others. And you might be surprised if you're writing a list thinking about the communities you're in, what your lived experience is. And that comes from struggle. Right. So, like, if you've struggled and overcome something, it is likely you are very well positioned to help others in some way.

So that's my like, little note on that today. And I just want to touch base again on this lovely beverage. It is patio season and again, this is the Funkovert Zero. You can get it at one of the three beverage shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you're local, there's Zero Proof Beverage House, Lucille's Bottle Shop and Marigold. Or you can get it, you know, at Total Wine has a awesome NA section now. So load up, try some N A If you are curious and try it for the month of like June, just say, I'm going to experiment with some new NA products because they really, really great.

I've literally replaced and I share every week what I'm drinking and enjoying. So this one's a favorite. Alcohol removed wine. Yeah. So that is all of my. Was it selfish or were you just navigating your own journey? Yeah, yeah, it looked. It felt selfish upon reflection. Like, why didn't I see that when I was in active addiction? But I was, I was just navigating that. And I do think part of one of the greatest gifts then is coming back and recognizing that that was the place you were in then. And you can only change what you're gonna, you know, do with that information going forward.

So service is a great way to give back in gratitude for those experiences. So trying to work more toward that. And certainly there are many opportunities in our community and world to give of our time and talents. So I'll leave you with that today, folks. Yeah. Oh, compassion. Yeah, Having compassion. How was my journey? Oh, my journey. Let's see. Yeah. Like I said in service early on in aa, I was like, I don't really get this service model and giving back. But as time kind of went through and I became more sober, I saw a need.

And that's, I think, how we identify on our journey, like where we need it and until it's presented to us and we're looking for it. And we're ready. We might not understand how we can be in service to others, but if we are open and we have done the work, I believe it will be shown to us how we can contribute and give of our gifts. And it's a beautiful thing. Signing off, y' all, I appreciate you so much. It was so fun to have, like, several of you join in. Sometimes I wonder, is anyone listening?

So thank you, Cadresphere. Cheers. Na Cheers. And have a great Tuesday night. Thanks for tuning in.