Monday, October 10, 2016

56. Life by the Numbers
The speaker that night said her addiction was to numbers: lower numbers on the bathroom scale, fewer calories, and more and more miles on the treadmill.  When that didn’t fill the void, she’d drink one or ten too many glasses of wine.

“The day after a binge,” she said, shaking her head, “I’d calculate how many calories I drank the night before.  I’d punish myself by skipping meals, or burning off those calories on a treadmill.  If my weight went up, I’d drink a bottle of wine to calm my nerves.  The cycle would start over.  I lived by the numbers until I almost died.”

“Wanna hear some good numbers?” she asked. “I’ve been sober for fifteen years.  I follow my healthy meal plan one day at a time.  My husband and I have been married for ten years.  We have three boys, two dogs, and one cat.  I couldn’t put a number on how much I love them.”  She told us about her quirky habit of finding something to be happy about every day, tied to an even number.   “Today is my middle son’s fourth birthday.”


Today I’ll find a number of reasons to be happy.


Life on Life's Terms III (c) 2016 by Ken Montrose

Life on Life's Terms III is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.


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