10. Are We There Yet
The next morning Sam stuck his head in my office to
ask when he’d be better. “What do you
mean by ‘better?” I asked.
“You know, no cravings, no mood swings, sleeping, just
all around happy,” he said. “I gotta
tell you Ken I thought I’d be feelin’ better than this by now.” I pointed out he’d tested negative for the
first time the day before. He’d been
using drugs for ten solid years. Feeling
normal might take a while. He wasn’t
happy with my answer as he headed off for group.
At 10:30 the group took a break. As he walked from the group room past my
office he asked me if I thought he’d be better in two weeks. I told him I didn’t know. He went out for a smoke. On his way back in
he asked if he’d be better in a month. Again, I told him I didn’t know.
On his way to lunch he asked how long it had taken me
to feel better. “I don’t know,” I said. “I
kept asking people when I’d feel better.
They told me I’d feel better when I felt better. I wanted to punch them. They wanted to punch me because I sounded
like the little kid in the back of the car, asking every five minutes ‘are we
there yet?’ They told me to get busy, distract myself with something positive, and
one day I’d realize I was there, I was better.
I couldn’t tell you when it happened, just that one day I noticed life
was much better. By the way, as soon as
you think you’re there, life presents a new destination.”
Today I won’t ask ‘are we there yet?’
Writing My New Story © 2015 by Ken Montrose
(Just a
reminder: Writing My New Story is a
work of fiction. Any resemblance to
anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)
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