The phrase "sobering realization" means that something has made you aware of a serious or difficult truth, and it can make you feel more serious or thoughtful. Full definition
I would say that it is a very sobering realization that all of the pressures on all of New York's counties to provide services without properly funding the costs of those services are coming to a head in the coming budget year. (ocgov.net)
«I think everyone left with renewed energy to tackle the AGI problems, tempered by sobering realization about how deeply rooted and multifaceted the problems are.» (gse.harvard.edu)
Once a person or body politic accepts the broad equivalence of all supernatural beliefs, they stand but a sobering realization away from seeing them all as absurd, including their own. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)