Thursday
September 18, 2014

Life on Life's Terms

Taking stock of my options

Julie joined the conversation by asking Kate, "Where you headed in any one direction before you got addicted?"

"I was going to be a lawyer.  I did really well on my LSATs."

"LSATs?" Julie asked.

"Law School Aptitude Test.  My LSAT scores got me into Duquesne's law school."

"What happened?" I asked.

"The summer before law school I caught my boyfriend cheating.  We were supposed to go to Duquesne together.  All the drinking I'd done in college set the stage for me to drown my sorrows for three straight months.  By September of that year, I couldn't face the morning, let alone seeing him at law school.  I spent the next two years sponging off my mother, who's a raging alcoholic."

"Could you go to law school now?" Julie asked.

"I don't know.  I'm afraid to call Duquesne." 

"How are you going to pick a direction, if you don't know which directions are open to you?" Julie asked.

"Part of 'changing what you can' is knowing your options.  Why don't you add contacting Duquesne to your goals?" I asked.

"What if they say no?" Kate asked.

"Then you'll know that's one direction you can't go, and you can concentrate on finding another."

Today I will explore my options.

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

Upcoming  Trainings

Professional Enabling, Disabling, & Empowering

September 24, 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

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/7023426-a-bolt-from-the-blue.

Smart Bears, Angry Rats

Story time

"Hey Dad, why haven't you written more about the bears?" my son asked.  "They're in the title.  Apparently they're smart.  You killed off the nice mice.  Nothing left but miserable rats."

"I'm getting to them," I said.  "Be patient."

"I've read your books.  They're all about fifty pages long.  You're getting near the end.  Why don't you just tell me what happens with the bears?"

"If I tell you about the bears, you won't enjoy the story as much.  The fun in any story is not knowing how it might end."

"OK, but these bears better be smart.  Really, really, smart.  Not just dancing bear smart, but algebra smart."

I smiled at him.  "I love wondering how your story will unfold. I wonder how mine will end, although I'm in no hurry to find out."

Today I will be patient with how my story unfolds.

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