Tuesday
August 19, 2014

Life on Life's Terms

Too Well?
"How are things going otherwise?" I asked Kate.

"Too well."

"How can things be going too well?"

"I'm tired, but the people around me are bouncing off the walls happy for me.  My whole family is behind me.  My boss told me he'd hold my job for me.  My little one can't get enough of me.  She goes with me everywhere."

"Sounds great.  Why do you say it's going 'too well'?"

She started to cry.  "Because I never realized how wonderful they were.  You have no idea how I've neglected them all.  I don't deserve them – they're treating me too well."

"You could spend a lot of time and energy pondering whether you're being treated too well.  Or, you could be grateful for the boss and the family you have.  I'd recommend being grateful.

Today I will be grateful for people who treat me well.

Life on Life's Terms (c) 2014 by Ken Montrose

Upcoming

Burnout: Clinical, Ethical, & Supervisory Issues
September 12, 2014 at Greenbriar-New Kensington
9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m
$30 payable in advance, at the door, or by invoice after the training

This three hour training is accredited for:

• Addiction Counselors by the Pa. Certification Board
• CRCs  by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification # 11938191652 and 11938191653 (one hour Ethics portion)
• Counselors by NAADAC #477 and NBCC #6352
• EAPs by the Employee Assistance Certification Commission
• Social Workers by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work.

Other Blogs

 AArdvarks, a daily messages blog about a group of young people in recovery can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/6841756-telling-on-my-addiction

Smart Bears, Angry Rats

Common love      75 years from now
There was a pause in the conversation, then Gretchen asked, "What happened to your parents' marriage?  I mean we've never talked about it, and I've always wondered.  Were they really in love, before your father's drinking got out of hand?" 

"My mother and father spent the first five years of their lives together high or drunk. She got tired of it, but he didn't.  When she got sober, they had nothing in common, but she held onto the idea she must have loved him.  She was sure when he got sober they'd fall back in love." 

"Why did she think she still loved him?"

"It's easy to mistake having a common love for being in love," Olsen said. "You're going to hate this analogy, but have you ever seen two sets of grandparents fussing over the same baby?  Both couples can love that baby with all their hearts, but barely know the other couple.  I think my parents loved chemicals, but barely knew each other.  They had to both get sober to realize they were just acquaintances who had shared a love of smoke and booze."  

Today I will remember having a common love is not the same as being in love. 

Smart Bears, Angry Rats (c) 2014 by Ken Montrose