Fawlty Showers 2

Killer

I went to an AA meeting that night and took a seat at a long table beside Talmadge and across from Margaret the Newbie. Epiphany chaser sat down next to Margaret.

“I hate you and you,” she said pointing to Talmadge and me.

Margaret, thinking she knew what Epiphany was getting at, said, “Yup, you gotta hate men.”

“I hate you too,” Epiphany said.   

We all laughed. Talmadge asked why she hated us.

“Because I’m serious this time,” Epiphany answered. “Because it’s gonna be hard. Because I know if you guys can do it, I can too.”

“Because we killed your excuses,” I said.

“Because you killed my #$%@%^ excuses,” Epiphany said, punching my shoulder.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for people who’ve killed my excuses.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible
 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

In Lieu of Flowers

The next day was the third anniversary of my father’s passing.  I looked at something I’d written for his funeral:

In Lieu of Flowers

A few days later my father passed away.

An old friend sent me condolences. He had missed the funeral and asked what he could do since it was too late to send flowers.  I told him the world seemed a little colder without my father.

‘In lieu of flowers,’ I wrote, ‘You could help me try to make up for his loss.’ I suggested several ways.

In lieu of flowers, make sure people know you’re happy to see them. (My father never said ‘Hi’, he said, ‘HELLO,’ and smiled, a big warm smile that couldn’t help but brighten someone’s day.)

In lieu of flowers, commit small acts of kindness. Hold the door open, take an elderly neighbor shopping, compliment a stranger.

In lieu of flowers, make sure the people you love know it.

In lieu of flowers, savor the good in life, and show your appreciation to the people who made it possible.

In lieu of flowers, put family first, always. Treat as many people as possible like family.

In lieu of flowers, find joy, not jealousy, in other people’s accomplishments.

In lieu of flowers, don’t gossip, tell funny stories.

Finally, I wrote, ‘You knew my father, he was a man of great faith. In lieu of flowers, live the Scripture he lived: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Today, in lieu of flowers…

Shares greatly appreciated.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Beasts of Burden

And that’s when the power went out.

I could see the man in the Mercedes yelling into his phone. We both had our windows rolled up, but I could hear him.

He got out of his car and paced around the parking lot.

His phone rang. He looked at the screen, then threw his phone to the ground and stomped on it.  He looked at his watch and apparently thought it was in league with his phone. Soon the watch laid next to the phone, crushed under the man’s foot.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I could see the women two cars ahead of me turn to watch him. One of them was laughing too.  It’s not every day you see an adult temper tantrum.

The Man got back in his car and pulled out of the line.

I saw he was crying.

He was a jackass, no doubt about it. But, jackasses carry burdens and I had no idea how heavy his might be.

 

Today I’ll remind myself I don’t know what burden someone carries.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 Personally

I pulled into a long line at the car wash.  A Mercedes pulled up behind me. It looked like it had already been washed, probably by servants wearing velvet gloves.

The driver got out of his car and walked up to my window.

“You’re not getting the deluxe wash are you?” he demanded to know. “I have an important meeting, so do me a favor pal, and get the quick wash.”

When he knocked on the window of a Toyota two cars ahead, a young woman held up a can of pepper spray. Her friend began recording on her cell phone.  I tried not to smile.

Mercedes man stomped back to his car, leaned against the side, and began making phone calls. I heard his end of the conversation.

A storm in the Gulf of Mexico had canceled someone’s flight.  Apparently that #$%^@# was supposed to walk her lazy #$#%@ ass to Pittsburgh if she had to.  

That same storm had knocked out power to a factory in Texas.  Mercedes Man asked if those #$%@%@ cowboy  #$%@% had  ever heard of generators? He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat in disgust.

“Why does the &(@$+%  world hate me?” He yelled at the sky.  I had some thoughts on the matter, but decided not to share.

“His problem,” I said to the steering wheel, “is both ego and self-pity. He thinks the world revolves around his plans, and he’s hurt, angry, and offended when life gets in his way.”

“None of it’s personal,” I added. “Things happen. Taking it personally only adds to your misery. Best you can do is the just do the best you can do.”

I thought I heard the car sigh at that cliché, but may have been the engine cooling.

 

Today I won’t take life so personally.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Salt vs. Mud

“I’m getting my car washed,” I said after dinner, grabbing my keys.

“It’s going to rain,” Dr. Deb pointed out.

“I know, but I want to get the salt off. If it gets a little muddy tomorrow, I don’t mind.”

“Because salt is corrosive and mud isn’t?”

“Yep! The car’s dirty either way, but one eats at it and the other doesn’t.”

Dr. Deb asked, “Thinking about using salt and mud in tomorrow’s blog?”

I nodded. “The salt is anything that corrodes your life a little at a time.  The car still runs, but the salt gets into everything, shortening the car’s life.”

“Mud is just day-to-day life. Normal might not be the right word, but it seems to fit.”

“And denial kicks in when someone thinks there’s no difference between salt and mud. It’s like someone in an abusive relationship saying it’s no big deal, all couples argue.”

“Here’s another example you could use at the rehab,” she said. “Salt is drinking every day after work and thinking it’s the same as the mud of having a drink with your co-workers now and then.”

On my way to the car wash I came up with a long list of salt/mud comparisons.

 

Today I won’t confuse salt and mud.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Reset Button

We were sitting on the couch that night when Dr. Deb asked me what my training was about.

“Reminds me of when we were dating” Dr. Deb said, resting her head on my shoulder.

“How so?” I asked.

“You’d torture yourself over past mistakes, most of them you’d made while you were drinking.”

“I’d wasted a lot of opportunities.”

“You’re doing it again,” Dr. Deb said, shooting me a look.

“Sorry,” I said. “Bad habit.”

“And you were always convinced good times were just about to end.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve learned to stop as soon as I start dwelling on the past, or worrying about the future.”

“How?”

“I have a reset button. I list ways my life is different, how I’m different.  I make myself think about all the things I’d worried about that never happened, and all the things that did happen that I got through.”

“It helped,” she said.

“Not at first, but I kept at it. Couldn’t tell you how many times I made those lists. Sometimes you gotta hit your mind’s reset button again and again.”  

 

Today I’ll hit reset as many times as I need to.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Doubling Down

The next day I presented a training on cognitive therapy. Halfway through I explained using ‘Double Standard’ to get people to challenge their negative beliefs about themselves.

“Some people have an excuse for everything,” I said. “Some blame others for anything that goes wrong.”

A woman in the front row gestured with her eyes at the man sitting next to her. Two women sitting behind the man pointed at him.  I pretended to cough to hide my laugh.

“On the other hand, a lot of people are much tougher on themselves than they’d be on a good friend.  ‘Double Standard’ is just common sense, asking them to look for these harsh judgments.”

I asked if anybody would be willing to share an example from their own lives.

The woman in the front row said, “I tell myself I can’t lose weight because I’m weak-willed and lazy. I tell my friend she can’t quit smoking because it’s hard to do, but she’ll do it eventually, ‘cause she’s amazing.”

“I relapsed on the golf course,” a man near the back said. “I gave away my new clubs to punish myself. A friend relapsed and I took him fishing, told him he was a great guy who’d hit a rough patch.”

Another man handed him his business card.

“In case I’m thinking I might relapse?” the first man asked, assuming the second man was also in recovery.

“Well that, and in case you do relapse,” the second man said, laughing. “I need a new set of clubs.”

 

Today I’ll watch for double standards I impose on myself.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Down the Drain

After I showered, I shook my head thinking about why I’d stayed in the steam room so long.

“Beware of comfortable places that drain you,” I said to myself.

Maybe because I was so drained, my thoughts turned darker.  I pondered places where people sunk in, not unhappy, maybe a little numb from the routine, as days went by and opportunities got lost.

People settled into jobs they didn’t hate, but weren’t very rewarding.

People settled into relationships that felt safe, but never got any deeper.

People settled into nightly bottles of wine, never getting into trouble because of their drinking, but missing out on the rest of what life had to offer.

“Beware of comfortable places that drain you,” I said again.

 

Today I’ll beware of comfortable places that might drain me.

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Help

The door to the steam room opened next to the pool.  A lifeguard saw me, and must have realized I was a little shaky. He asked if I was OK.

“I’m fine,” I said, feeling like I was going to topple face first into the pool.

“You sure?” he asked. “Do you need a bottle of water?”

I started to say no, even though a bottle of water was exactly what I needed. Accepting that bottle seemed like asking for help.

I hated asking for help no matter how much I needed it. I could picture myself waking up early near the end of an operation and telling the surgeon just to leave the needle and thread. “I can close the incision, Doc. You probably have things to do.”

Even though I knew I was being irrational, I had this sense being helped made me a smaller person.

 “OK,” I said. He pulled a bottle from the cooler at his feet. I sat on a bench, drank the water, and discovered I wasn’t any smaller, my feet still touched the floor.

 

Today I will accept help.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Too Much

Epiphany left and I was alone in the steam room.  I soaked in the quiet and the warmth, my eyes closed and my mind clear. 

“Oh, how I needed this,” I said to the wall.

Time passed. I stood to leave and sat back down immediately, my head swimming. I thought I was going to pass out, maybe die.

“Great,” I said. “They’ll find me tomorrow morning, all the fluids sweated out me, laying on the steam room floor like a giant slice of pasty jerky.”

Without standing up, I slid across the bench until I was sitting next to the door. I opened the door and let the cool air revive me.

Feeling shaky, I stood up and stepped outside the steam room, steadying myself on a railing.  The clock on the wall said I’d been in the steam room much longer than was healthy.

“Too much of a anything,” I muttered to myself, “is never good for you. Too much food, too much exercise, too much work, can bite you.”

 

Today I’ll avoid too much of anything.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 Aesop Revisited

I sat for a moment trying to decide what to say next. I knew Epiphany well enough to worry she might focus on what she was giving up instead of what she had.

“Let me twist Aesop’s fable about a dog for you,” I said.

“Oh, so I’m a dog?” Epiphany said, her feathers ruffled.

“You’re not the dog. There’s no actual dog, it’s just a story.”

“Okay, but can I at least be a pretty dog? Maybe a sheltie, or a collie?”

“You’re not in the story,” I said, trying to be patient. “This story has been told since before you were born.”

Epiphany started to say something, but I interrupted.  

“A butcher throws the dog a bone. On the way home the dog crosses a bridge and sees his reflection in the water. He thinks it’s another dog with a bigger bone.”

“He’s not a very smart dog. He better be pretty or loveable or he’s gonna wind up at the pound.”

I plowed on. “He drops his bone and jumps at the reflection thinking he’ll wrestle an even bigger bone from the other dog. Instead he loses his bone and nearly drowns.”

“I’m not sure I get it,” Epiphany said.

“The bone is the second chance you’ve been given. The bone is your youth and intelligence and whatever else you have going for you as you start over.”

The funny thing about Epiphany was she could be a clueless chatterbox one minute and insightful the next. She said, “Aesop’s fable was about being greedy, but it also tells you not to jump at illusions.”

I nodded. “The reflection is whatever we chase that isn’t what we thought it would be, and might drown us.”

Today I won’t drown chasing illusions.

  

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Running on Empty

I worked out at the gym that night. Afterward I hit the steam room, looking forward to ten or so quiet minutes to myself.

Epiphany Chaser walked in. I cringed, waiting for her to fill the room with babble. She said nothing but ‘Hi’ for about five minutes.

“I got rid of it all,” Epiphany said finally. “The wine, a little bit of coke, all the junk food, both my boyfriends.”

 “Must have been difficult.”

“I even got a new phone number.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Have you ever felt relieved after you threw up? Weak and shaky, empty inside, but glad you got it over with?”

I nodded.

“I want something better, but right now I don’t have much. I guess you have to feel a little empty at first to get to a fuller life.”

 

“Today I’ll accept feeling a little empty if it leads to a fuller life.”

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2

Geraniums and Resentments

The next day Abigail stopped by my office to give me a potted flower.

“It’s a geranium,” Abigail said, reading the puzzled look on my face. “I bought fifteen to put around my aunt’s tombstone.”

Memory clicked in. “She hated geraniums,” I said. “You were going to cover her grave with them.”

“I still hate her,” Abigail said, “but I’m trying to let go of my resentment. Not planting these flowers feels like giving up a little piece of it.”

After Abigail left, I wondered if it wasn’t time for me to chip away at some of the resentments I’d held onto over the years.

 

Today I’ll let go of a little piece of resentment.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

Blondie and Smiling Crocodiles

Brat Boy called to tell me about the coed soccer league he and Blondie played in.

Brat Boy said, “Guy sees we have two girls playing defense and says, loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘This should be easy.’”

“Never underestimate your enemy,” I said.

“You know Blondie. She’s all smiles until the whistle blows. Guy’s laughing. He has no idea what’s coming.”

“How’d it turn out?”

“We won,” Brat Boy said. “Blondie was bruised and battered at the end, but so was that guy. He didn’t score. Doubt he’ll underestimate her again.”

I thought about all the addictions, all the bad habits, all the enemies, people faced. Underestimating their pull and the damage they could do was never a good idea. Too many people I’d known had lost their sobriety going to a bar to drink Pepsi.

 “Nope, never pays to underestimate your enemy.”

After he hung up, I hummed a tune we’d sung as kids. The woman in the song thought she could ride a crocodile, claiming he was ‘as tame as he could be.’

I sang the final verse to DD the bunny. “At the end of the ride, the lady was inside, and the smile was on the crocodile.”

 

Today I won’t underestimate my enemy.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible
 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Promises, Promises

Three weeks later Don, AKA Breaker, successfully completed inpatient rehab.  A week after that a package arrived addressed to Katy.

Katy showed me the package. “He said baby Kara deserved a better world.  I didn’t realize how serious he was.”

In the package was a baby-size Harley-Davidson t-shirt and a tiny leather vest.  A note, written in large block letters read “A better world, I promise.”

I wasn’t sure what Don was going to do, but I knew I needed to follow his example.

“I promise to do something to make the world a little better today,” I said to DipshitDumbass the bunny when I got back to my office.

 

Today I’ll keep a promise to make the world a better place.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Mistakes Not Made

Brat Boy texted he was home from a club volleyball tournament.  They hadn’t done as well as usual.

   

I sent him a text with a laughing emoji saying I loved him, even if he’d lost all his athletic ability, wasn’t much to look at, and had questionable hygiene.

He texted back that he couldn’t decide to insult me or tell me he loved me. He didn’t think it mattered because at my age I wasn’t likely to remember either tomorrow. He ended with a heart and a laughing emoji.

I laughed, but Dr. Deb saw my face sag. She asked what I was thinking.

“Remembering a guy I met in AA. Rich guy. Tough guy. He’d been a mean drunk, workaholic, SOB, who’d ruined his kids’ lives.”

I sighed. Dr. Deb waited for me to go on.

I said, “His daughter delivered his first grandchild when he was ten years sober. He wanted nothing more than to have a second chance, be a better grandfather than he had been a father.”

Dr. Deb knew where this was going. “His daughter told him no.”

“He has five grandchildren last I heard. Hasn’t seen any of them.”

“Your kids love you. You’re glad you didn’t make his mistakes.”

“Drinking isn’t the only way to ruin someone’s life. It’s just one of the mistakes I’m glad I didn’t make.” 

 

Today I’ll be grateful for all the mistakes I didn’t make, drunk or sober.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

Don’t Be a Human Speedbump

Someone posted online that he’d fallen off the wagon.  I was glad to see all the support he got. I was also happy nobody had said ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

Just surviving a binge doesn’t seem to make people stronger. A strong recovery comes from pushing a little harder to catch up to the wagon, doing more to stay sober.  Recovery comes from being smarter, figuring out why you fell off the wagon in the first place, and making changes.

I thought about a woman I knew who loved to say what didn’t kill her made her stronger. After every bad relationship, with every bad boy she encountered, she’d claim she was stronger for the experience. 

 

 After a particularly nasty breakup, a friend told her, “You’re not stronger, you’re just a human speed bump, getting run over again and again.”

 This made me think what doesn’t kill may make me a little stronger, but hopefully makes me a lot smarter.  Otherwise, I’m just a human speedbump.

 

Today I won’t be a human speedbump.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

The Break of Don

Three months later Katy’s maternity leave ran out. A couple times a week she brought baby Kara to work. Our clients found any excuse to wander over from the dorms or the group room to see the baby.

A burly man, many of his tattoos inked in prison, stopped to borrow a pen.  His nickname - ‘Breaker’ – doubled as his former job description.

“Cute kid,” Don said in a gruff voice. He bent down to take a closer look.

Baby Kara grabbed his long beard. A smile lit up Don’s face, but a tear rolled down his cheek.

“I owe you better,” he said to the child. “Gonna be your world, and I should be leavin’ it in better shape.”

I was stunned. After he walked away, I said to Katy, “Did you see that? We’ve gotten nowhere with him in group. No desire to do anything but put in his time and make his PO happy.”

Katy smiled. “I thought he was a lost cause. A tug on his beard and he’s ready to change the world.”

“You never know what’s going to get through to people.”

“Nobody is truly hopeless,” Katy said, picking up Baby Kara and kissing her. “Miracles happen.” She kissed her again.

Today I know nobody is truly hopeless.

  

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Got It, Again

After dinner, Dr. Deb turned on the TV. I stretched out on the couch.

“If you lay down, you’re going to fall asleep and miss the end of the movie.”

I said, “Not this movie. Too exciting.”

“That’s what you said last time. What’s the saying, “If you do what you always did,..”

“'You’ll get what you always got.' Right, but not this time.”

I woke up two hours later.

 

Today I’ll remember, if I do what I always did, I’ll get what I always got.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Tomato Soup and Backrubs

The next day I asked Dr. Deb what she wanted for Valentine’s Day. She shrugged.

Over the years, I’d seen too many relationships fail because one partner mistook low maintenance for no maintenance. They stopped doing things that showed they cared.

I’d also seen too many people with years of recovery relapse for the same reason. They stopped doing little things that kept them sober.

Decades into recovery, staying sober wasn’t the struggle it had been the first year. On the other hand, I still practiced daily disciplines to avoid relapse.

Decades into my marriage, I was fairly certain Dr. Deb knew how much I loved and appreciated her. I still made it a point to show and tell her, in small ways at least.

“How about tomato soup and sandwiches from the deli, a movie, and a fire?”  I suggested.

“Does that come with a back rub?” Dr. Deb asked.

“You’re so high maintenance,” I said, laughing.

 

Today I won’t mistake low maintenance for no maintenance.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible