Thursday, November 19, 2015

4. Accepting the Unaccepting
I went to an AA meeting that night.  Standing at the entrance with the other smokers was Tucker, by far the most miserable dry drunk I’d ever met. We had our usual bitter argument about all the things he disliked or resented.  Finally I asked, “Will you ever accept education has its merits? Young people can sincerely want to get sober? Rehabs can be helpful? Antidepressants and heroin aren’t the same?” He spit on the ground, muttered an obscenity, and stalked away.
It dawned on me he was never going to accept what I saw as the undeniable truth. Nor was he likely to let go of his resentments because of something I said. The sooner I accepted his lack of acceptance, the less angry I’d be.

Today I will accept other people’s lack of acceptance.
Sober Not Somber © 2015 by Ken Montrose

(Just a reminder: Sober Not Somber is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)

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