Thursday
September 11, 2014

Life on Life's Terms

Risky business

When I got home that night my wife was talking on the phone. 

"Who was that?" I asked when she hung up.

"Tiffany," she said with a sigh.  "Her older brother heard she was getting married and that he wasn't invited.  I guess it shocked him.  He was used to excluding her, not the other way around.  She said he cried.  He wants to come to the wedding."

"Is Tiffany happy?" I asked.

"Tiffany is happy and scared.  This is a side of her brother she's never seen before.  He's always been kind of an aloof bully.  She's always wanted a better relationship with her brothers.

"She's afraid he'll go right back to being mean as soon as the wedding is over?"

"Yep.  Tiff wants him at the wedding, but she's afraid to get her hopes up."

"Sounds like a risk worth taking," I said.

Today I will consider taking a risk, knowing it is a risk.

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

Freebie

This week's freebie is the Kindle version of My Plan to Ruin Your Life: The first recovery workbook written by your Addiction.  It is available at  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S.

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/6978098-deliver-us-not.

Upcoming  Trainings

MISA Assessment

September 17, 2014 at Kerr Presbyterian Church in Verona

9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m

$50 payable in advance, at the door, or by invoice after the training

This five hour training is accredited for:

• Addiction Counselors by the Pa. Certification Board
• Nurses by the PSNA #101-1-O-14
• 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.

To register, please visit our website greenbriartraining.com or send an email to: kmontrose@greenbriar.net

Smart Bears, Angry Rats

Let me draw you a picture      150 Years later

 After the soldier left, Sonya sat on her porch and watched her neighbor paint a mural on the side of her garage. 

There were no rats or bears in her neighbor's artwork.  No soldiers patrolled the streets, warily eying sewer grates or staring off into the woods, alert for danger.  Nobody carried a shotgun or slept in wire cages. In her neighbor's paintings parents played with their children in the park.  An elderly couple held hands as the strolled along a wooded path.

Some people called these paintings 'escapist.'  Sonya thought they were beautiful.  They were an escape she embraced.

When her ex escaped into his bottle, he dulled his senses.  He lost contact with reality, putting himself and the people around him at risk.  

Her neighbor's paintings allowed her to live in two worlds.  When she escaped into the paintings, her senses stayed sharp as she explored a better time.  She stepped into another more beautiful world without losing contact with the reality of her everyday life. 

Sonya had never found the words to properly thank her neighbor.

Today I will be grateful for artistic people, they add so much to life.

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