More On

I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat across from Sue and a young woman I didn’t recognize. 

The woman said, “I feel like I should be doing more since I got sober.  More for my kids, more for my husband, maybe even more for me.”

Sue smiled, and asked, “You want to make up for the time you spent drinking?”

“I do. I feel like I owe them.”

“Don’t be a more on.  Don’t pile more on today because of what you didn’t do yesterday.  Let it go and start over.”

I remembered spending the first few years of my sobriety trying to put more on myself.  I went back to school, tried to run a mental health center, and played basketball every chance I got.  Much of the time I was exhausted, but convinced I was making up for lost time.

“She’s right,” I said. “Early on I thought I was getting smarter, more experienced, and in better physical shape.  Really I was wearing myself out, being a more on. I’m lucky I stayed sober.”

Today I’ll try not to be a more on.

Dogged Determination ©2018 & 2019 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination 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 https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/