Monday
January 4, 2015

Confident vs. Cocky

The next day the local police and two men in suits arrested Roger.  We never heard from him again.

Roger’s mentor had been David.  Like Roger, David had gone to jail because of shady financial dealings.  David’s sponsor had been Robert.  Robert had also gone to jail for the very same reason. Roger had thought he was smarter than David.  David had thought he was smarter than Robert.  All three had thought they were too smart to get caught. I would have described each of them as ‘cocky.’

In contrast, I would have described Seal as ‘confident.’  She had gotten free from her abusive boyfriend, discovered she could stay clean and sober, and learned to live on her own.  The world was opening up to her, but she was cautious.

Later that day I told Seal I admired her growing confidence.  We talked about Roger, and I asked her what she thought the differences were between her and Roger, between confident and cocky.

She said, “The difference between me and Roger?  I’m confident because I know what I can do.   I also know what the world can do to me if I’m not careful.  Roger was too cocky to see anything other than what he could do.  He couldn’t see the world realistically.” 

Today I will be realistically confident.
Relapse Prevention Group © 2014 by Ken Montrose