Turns out sobriety isn’t what the internet makes it out to be.
In this episode, we rapid-fire our way through some of the biggest sobriety myths. From “you become a motivational speaker overnight” to “you should be able to moderate by now,” we react honestly, laugh a lot, and call out what’s actually true from lived experience.

Just four guys who’ve been sober long enough to know what holds up and what falls apart.
It’s about freedom, growth, and doing the work you can’t avoid anymore.

00:00 – Intro. Why sobriety myths exist. Episode framing

00:57 – Myth: Cravings never go away

02:43 – Myth: Sobriety means mocktails at every event

04:15 – Myth: You have to replace alcohol with another addiction

06:43 – Myth: Sobriety makes you boring

08:10 – Myth: You lose friends in sobriety

10:07 – Myth: You can totally moderate now

13:55 – Myth: You have to hit rock bottom first

16:20 – Myth: Sobriety is just not drinking

18:18 – Myth: Alcohol helps with stress

19:35 – Myth: Sobriety fixes everything

21:10 – Myth: Once you’re sober, life gets easy

21:56 – Myth: You can’t be successful without drinking

23:16 – Myth: “I’m not that bad”

24:18 – Myth: “I’m not as bad as him”

25:16 – Final segment setup: “Turns out sobriety isn’t ___, it’s ___"

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]

What happens to your people when drinking becomes the priority, and what it costs to rebuild when you finally stop. Brian talks about choosing his wife and kids even when it disappointed his family of origin. God Guy names the “sad eyes” he still remembers from the people he was hurting. Jake brings in grief, high functioning drinking, and trying to be a chain breaker for his daughters. It is a slow, honest look at boundaries, talking to your kids about alcohol, and why real recovery cannot happen in isolation.

00:00 – The definition of Haboob
03:03 – Trying to define “relationship” while quoting Avatar, jellyfish trees, and Len feeling connected to everything
06:44 – God Guy remembers breaking trust, seeing “sad eyes,” and knowing he was doing damage in real time
10:07 – Brian tells his family he is an alcoholic, chooses his home team, and starts rebuilding trust one awkward step at a time
19:20 – Jake walks through grief, a house full of alcohol, and what it means to be the chain breaker in his family
25:25 – How the guys talk to their kids about alcohol, and the tension between protecting them and telling the truth
42:03 – Moving from quantity to quality in relationships, and why isolation is a signal that you have not fully surrendered

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

This is Don't story. He takes us through decades of “I can quit whenever I want,” isolation, stints in treatment, gaming the system in sober living, and the DUI that finally shattered his pride. Along the way he talks about support that he didn’t think he deserved, the brother he can’t fix, and the simple spiritual practice that turned recovery from a chore into actual peace.

It’s honest, humbling, and quietly hopeful.

00:00 – Popcorn with chopsticks and a bowl of wet baby pickles
03:08 – Brian thanks listeners and shares why they’re bringing more guests into the circle
05:11 – Don traces when alcohol stopped being “social” and started taking over his work and home life during COVID
10:26 – The three-year stretches of not drinking, the secret stashes, and why he always slid back
18:43 – Hazelden vs. Fairview and the first time someone clearly explained what alcohol was doing to his brain and body
23:38 – Finding Quest, comparing it with AA, and why the “biker room” honesty felt more real than anything else
27:41 – The DUI night: speeding home to drink, getting pulled over in a suit, and the shame that finally broke him
33:52 – Rebuilding trust with his wife, kids, and grandkids while realizing how far his selfishness had spread
52:20 – Don on the true root of sobriety, daily prayer, and why spiritual surrender finally quieted the anxiety

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

Learn to level out. Take the peaks and valleys and turn them into something steadier. In this one we interrogate Jake. Then talk urges, boredom, living amends, the weight of grief, and what it takes to let the inside finally match the outside.

00:00 – Dinosaur debates and Jurassic Park theology

02:09 – “Have you craved alcohol in the last month? Walk me through the first 90 seconds.”

03:11 – Sunday triggers, boredom, and how naps and batting cages became tools

Paul spent 23 years in addiction, reached the point of loading a gun on the beach, and chose life instead. Almost two years clean, he’s wrestled with isolation, brain fog, losing his job, nearly losing his home, and still finding the courage to start again. We talk through what it feels like to abstain versus recover, how faith and community keep him going, and what surrender really looks like when everything falls apart. If you’re stuck, scared, or slipping, Paul’s story shows you’re not alone—and it turns out, you can be okay.

00:00 – Brian cracks open a LaCroix behind his wife 4 days after sobriety

This one is special. Paul joins us for a long, honest look at a life shaped by surrender, relapse, grace, and growth. He sobered up at 18. Fell hard in mid-life. Came back through the doors with nothing left but willingness. And over the decades he has become someone we all look to for wisdom.

We talk about blackouts, bottoms, the stubbornness that almost killed him, and the miracle that pulled him back. But we also talk about the calmer, quieter work. The sixth and seventh step. The ego. The anger. The peace he never thought he could find.

If you’ve ever wondered what long-term sobriety actually looks like, this is it. A man who has rebuilt his life again and again. A man who still asks God for help every single morning. And a man who has helped more people than he’ll ever know.

00:00 – How God Guy would dispatch a goose

05:07 – The table fills with four decades of sobriety

08:36 – Sobering up at 18: strict home, early bottom, and young fellowship

11:33 – Leaving AA, discovering alcohol for real, and going off the deep end

15:29 – Treatment, halfway house, and the five-month reset that saved his life

17:22 – What is an alcoholic? Bottoms, loss, and why only you can decide

18:59 – Why treatment alone doesn’t keep people sober

20:51 – God, meetings, sponsorship, and what “doing the deal” really looks like

23:43 – Meditation enters the picture and changes everything

27:06 – Therapy, adoption, abandonment, and deeper emotional work

31:29 – When “you’re not an alcoholic” becomes dangerous permission

36:49 – Bars, cocaine, blackouts, and near arrests

39:18 – Parenting through addiction and the long road back to his daughter

42:37 – The 12th step that didn’t “work” and the power of this disease

45:52 – The third DWI, flashing lights, and the moment of surrender

47:49 – The millionaire friend, the paid-for treatment, and a flat-out miracle

53:14 – Why Paul still chooses traditional AA and one main meeting

56:08 – Shrinking his network and finding peace in a smaller life

57:37 – Steps six and seven, ego, anger, and character defects

01:03:02 – God as friend, habit, and daily anchor

01:10:36 – The real secret to long-term sobriety: change and humility

01:15:18 – The most surprising part of this season: peace

01:16:31 – What Paul hopes his inner circle understands about him now

01:24:43 – Turns out… I’m a really good person

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

Guest Len has a phrase he says all the time. “I’m not that guy anymore.” He got sober later in life after 58 years of running from God, seven failed treatments, and a life built on self-determination. Today, he’s a steady presence in our recovery group, showing up week after week with humility and hope. In this episode we talk about what it takes to truly change, what’s lost and what’s gained, and how to keep moving forward when the old version of you still tries to show up.

00:00 – Bumper-sticker rants and baby-on-board debates set up Len’s arrival

05:59 – God Guy recalls being welcomed by Len’s wife, the “mother figure” he needed to stay

10:45 – Len reflects on Jake’s early skepticism, drinking on the way to meetings, and the eventual turn toward willingness

21:02 – Len shares how Brian’s faith foundation gave him both hope and concern in early recovery

31:15 – Len’s “screaming surrender” moment in treatment that changed everything

39:53 – The roots of arrogance, baseball, and why old patterns took so long to break

54:29 – How Len catches himself when the “old Len” shows up and why pausing makes all the difference

It’s easy to focus on the wreckage. But recovery brings quiet, powerful wins.

This one wasn’t planned. We wrapped one episode and Jake threw out, “what about recovery highlights?” So we hit record again. What came out was a string of stories we don’t want to forget... making amends with kids, seeing life more clearly, learning to listen, finding calm, and living with gratitude.

A reminder that sobriety isn’t about what we’ve lost... it’s about what we’ve gained.

00:00 – Traffic jams, lotion hands, and a midnight beef jerky breakdown

06:29 – God Guy shares the quiet pride of raising kids who’ve never seen him drink

07:57 – Making long-delayed amends to a daughter and the healing that followed

16:44 – Seeing family with fresh eyes after years of shame and distance

18:14 – Learning how to talk instead of shut down

21:09 – Turning awkward honesty into connection, even when it makes people uncomfortable

22:01 – The guys reflect on how far they’ve come—and how much further there is to go

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

Jake hits his first real bump in the road since getting sober, and it shakes him more than he expected. We talk about how recovery isn’t a straight path, what it feels like when a setback threatens your momentum, and why there’s no finish line to cross. The journey keeps going, and the only way through... is through.

00:00 – A fly torments Brian for 200 miles and survives every murder attempt

03:01 – Jake’s first big rattle in a year

08:14 – Finding peace through a 7-day devotion

13:40 – A simple nighttime image that calms the mind

16:36 – The ATV loop and why recovery never ends

21:54 – Making recovery a habit and liking the new you

32:59 – Reframing embarrassment in sobriety

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

Fun used to be easy. We’d drink and the night took care of itself. Sober, it’s different. We’ve had to relearn what joy looks like without a buzz, stumble through awkward starts, and figure out who our people are now. And then there are the moments we laughed so hard it felt like the old days... only better.

00:00 – Fireworks: how have any of us made it this far?

05:13 – Brian’s first time finding joy sober

09:42 – The awkward starts and dead ends

14:10 – Why planning fun matters now

19:27 – Learning to laugh like the old days

25:16 – Making room for joy in recovery

Need help? Find your local AA or Celebrate Recovery group. Or email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.