Thursday, January 30^th, 2020 

An Honest Mistake

Two days later I drove three hours to give a speech on burnout to 150 people. In the crowd sat judges, probation officers, counselors, social workers, and others prominent in the addiction treatment field. They came from all over Pennsylvania and represented a golden opportunity to establish contacts in the eastern half of the state.

I was ready for them.  The crowd smiled, nodded their heads in agreement, and laughed as they followed along in the twelve-page booklet I had provided.   I timed the speech perfectly, covering all the material with five minutes left for questions.

I was pretty pleased with myself until a man in a suit approached me after the training.  He held the conference program in his hand. “Did you know you were supposed be talking about changing addictive thinking?” he asked.  He showed me the program.  My heart sank.

Later I realized I had read the conference planners’ email from the year before. That year I had also discussed burnout.   I spent the rest of the day wondering how I could have done something so stupid. 

The next day I presented on forgiveness in recovery. I paused when I got to the part about forgiving oneself.

Today I will forgive myself for honest mistakes.

2020 Vision ©2017 by Ken Montrose

2020 Vision is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com