Novella

Absolutely, Positively

The next day I got a message from someone saying he had to cancel his registration for one of my trainings.

‘Sorry for the late notice,’ he wrote, ‘but I was in accident and won’t be able to attend.’

A drunk driver had sped through a red light, knocking him off his bike. His right arm had been broken in two places. He’d also broken his collar bone, cracked three ribs, and suffered a concussion.

‘Just glad it wasn’t worse,’ he wrote. Smiley emoji.

‘It seems bad enough!’ I wrote back.

‘I broke my right arm. Good thing I’m a lefty!’ Laughing emoji.

In his shoes, I doubted I’d be so upbeat. I was grateful for the positive example he set.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for people who can find the positive in any situation.

 

Novella 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

 

Novella

 

Progress not Perfection

I sat in my writing chair, determined to write my blog before I went to bed.   Seventy-five minutes went by as I rejected one idea after another.  Finally, I saw the time and made myself write a paragraph.

On the one hand, it still took me forever to write. On the other, I’d gotten to the point where I wrote almost every day.

“Progress not perfection,” I said to the cat. He purred in agreement.

The cat had gotten good at catching mice and moles, which was progress.  He brought them into the house which was less than perfect.

Most people I knew who gave up bad habits struggled at first. They made progress but had setbacks along the way. Recovery from anything was rarely perfect.

 

 

Today I’ll shoot for progress not perfection.

 

Novella 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

Novella

Regrettably

Texting with my classmate the day before had brought back memories.  I thought about all the opportunities I’d wasted in high school and college, and how I managed to drink my way out of graduate school.

Dr. Deb asked me what I was thinking.

“Thinking about my academic career. Beating myself up over things I did thirty-five years ago,” I said.

“Good idea,” Dr. Deb said. “Tomorrow you can beat yourself up for wasting today thinking about wasting time years ago.

We both laughed, but I knew she had a point.  Regretting the past was a waste of time.

 

Today I won’t waste time regretting the times I’ve wasted.

 

Novella 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

 

Novella

 

Let’s Get Physical

I went to my Sunday meeting. When I got back, Dr. Deb asked me what we talked about.

“The importance of taking care of your body. It’s where you mind and soul live,” I said.

“And you think six cups of coffee and three donuts is taking care of your body?” she asked.

“I don’t put sugar in my coffee, so it evens out.”

She seemed a bit skeptical.

 

Today I will take care of my body. It’s where my mind and soul live.

 

Novella 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

Novella

Promises, Promises

I’m a little disappointed in my wife,’ the guy I knew from college wrote. ‘She promised to love me in sickness and in health. She’s leaving me.’

‘You probably promised to cherish her, forsaking all others,’ I wrote. 

‘What’s your point?’

‘If you’re addicted to something, you break promises to loved ones, like cherishing them. They start to feel forsaken for something other than them.’

‘I guess I can’t expect her to honor her promises when I wasn’t really honoring mine.’

“For some of us, alcohol is a solvent that melts away promises,’ I wrote.

 

Today I will keep my promises.

Novella 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

 

NOVELLA

 

Sick and Tired

I got a message from someone I knew from college.  He said he was sick and tired of his addiction, and wanted to go to rehab.

I told him before he did anything else, to write down what exactly he was sick and tired of. I explained when people make changes, their lives improve, but their memories of how sick and tired they were fade.

‘It’s one reason people repeat past mistakes,’ I added.

 He added examples from his own life. ‘It’s why people with a year sober go out for a beer or two and wind up wasted and arrested, or text the ex who broke their heart.  It’s why they take on some huge home project even though the last one took months and left them hating their house, their spouse, and their tool box.’

I told him to hold onto that list, and never forget how sick and tired he was when he texted me.

After I gave him the number for our rehab, I reminded myself of all the ways I’d been sick and tired of my old life.

 

Today I’ll remember how sick and tired I was.

 

Novella 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

Novella

 

NOVELLA

Of People and Pizza

After I sent the message, I was still feeling a little down.   

When I found my phone, I sent my son a heart emoji and a basketball, challenging him to a game. I added a picture of a baby in an NBA jersey, crying.

I wrote, ‘You, after I dunk on you repeatedly.’

He sent me a picture of an outhouse, leaning badly to the side. ‘You’ll find your self-esteem in there, postgame.’ Laughing emoji, heart emoji.

My daughter returned the heart emoji I sent with a puppy with hearts for eyes. She was reminding me that as little girl she had followed me everywhere.  I couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey,” I called down to Dr. Deb, “I love you and I love pizza.”

She laughed. “Who do you love more? Me or the pizza?”

“Let’s order one and see.”

As we ate our pizza, it dawned on me how lucky I was to be surrounded by people who could always lift my spirits.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for the people who can always lift my spirits.

 

Novella 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

Novella

Nothing to See Here, Move Along

The next afternoon I spent hours looking for places to submit my short story. I’d spent months writing and rewriting the story until I was sure I had it just right.  I was psyched.

I found two likely publishers and submitted the files.

I said to the dog, “I’m gonna read this one more time, and put it away until I hear back. No more edits.” I opened the file.

And that’s when I saw it. A typo in the very first line of the story, a story I’d read and reread at least twenty times.

Having a typo in the first line drastically reduced the chances the editor would read the second, or so I’d been told.

I let out a string of curses that sent the dog slinking out of the room.

“#$%^&##!!” I said to the cat. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch that mistake.”

“*&^&^^#@,” he hissed back in agreement.

When I got done cursing myself, I put things in perspective. I sent the editors an email asking them to ignore my previous submission, and consider a revised attachment.

Not all mistakes are so easily corrected, and some situations are harder than others to put right.

“But when I can,” I said to the cat, “I want to correct my mistakes, admit I’m human, and move on.”

 

Today I will correct my mistakes and move on.

 

Novella 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
 

Novella

Pass

The next day I woke up with no appetite, feeling a little queasy.  I skipped breakfast, ate no lunch, and forced myself to eat a roll for dinner. It didn’t sit well.

The next day wasn’t much better.

Three days in, my appetite returned.  I had an important meeting that day, and my new boss was coming to hear me present.

I felt weak and wrung out.

Before I let myself worry too much, I thought of others whose problems didn’t clear in a couple days. So many people struggled with severe mental illnesses and chronic medical conditions.

I remembered a client who’d had a son from a short-term relationship.  For the foreseeable future she had to deal with his pettiness, selfishness, and overbearing family.  

“I call him my ex, ‘cause we’re done, and because he put the ‘ex’ in excrement,” she had told me.

“This too shall pass,” I quoted to my laptop when I wearily gathered my materials for the training. “I need to be grateful that it will.”

 

Today I’ll be grateful for problems that pass.

 

Novella 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
 

Novella

 

NOVELLA

Obstacles

I opened my laptop that evening to write a chapter of my novella. No words came to me.

“Why am I doing this?” I said to the cat curled up on my lap. He pretended not to hear.

I opened Twitter, thinking I might find some inspiration there.

Five minutes later I wanted to hide under the bed. “There are some scary, scary, people out there,” I said to the cat. He ignored me again.

Just as I was about to shut my computer and call it a night, I quote jumped out at me:

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.” Frank A. Clark.

“And,” I said, “obstacles might just be a sign you’re on a path worth traveling.”

I wrote a page and a half about a new problem my main character had to face.

 

Today I will know I’m on the right path because of, not in spite of, the obstacles.

 

Novella 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

Novella

 

I Want To See The Manager

“You know what’s funny about my situation?” the speaker asked. “I quit drinking because my life was unmanageable.  Now it’s less manageable than ever.”

“How so?” I asked.

“A year after I got my dog, I married a woman who had three cats and a hyperactive chihuahua.  Her son had a big lizard. He says it’s an iguana, but I think it’s a baby Komodo Dragon, I really do.”

I laughed.  “You run a zoo.”

He smiled.  “Both my wife and my stepson are high energy.  Constant motion. The boy plays three sports and is learning to play the tuba.”

I laughed.  “How do you manage?”

“I don’t,” he said, his smile broadening. “Sometimes the best you can do is be grateful for the joy you can’t manage.”  

 

Today I’ll be grateful for joyful unmanageability.

 

Novella 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

Novella

 Just Looking

After the meeting I asked the speaker why he went back out after five years of sobriety.

“I was bored because I was too lazy to go looking for something interesting.  I expected life to come to me.”

“So did you find something?”

He showed me a picture on his phone. A dog that looked like a German shepherd/grizzly bear mix sat next to him on a couch.

“I started volunteering at the pound, walking the dogs and playing with the cats.  I ended up with this monster ‘cause nobody else seemed to want him.”

He took a sip of his coffee, and added. “He reminds me to look for life. When we walk he can’t wait to see what scents he can pick up. We have to stop at the wiener dog’s yard so they can exchange stories. When we get to the dog park, and he can’t stop playing.”

“He’s loving his life.”

“’Cause he looks for it.”

 

Today I’ll go looking for life.

 

 

Novella 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
 

Novella

 

First Mistake

I went to a speaker meeting that night.  The speaker had been five years sober when he decided he wanted one more night out.

The next day he was still a little drunk when he saw blood on his bumper. The bumper hung lower on the side with a dent in the hood.  He panicked.

The man got a gas can from his shed and soaked the inside of the car, planning to destroy what he thought was the evidence of a hit and run.  He ran into his house to get a match.

When he came back, he took one more look at his bumper and saw tiny brown hairs.  He’d hit a deer.

He set the car on fire anyway, figuring he’d never be able to drive it again because of the strong gasoline smell.

The insurance company’s investigator needed about three minutes to figure out the fire was deliberate.

He spent 18 months in jail and two years on probation.

“My first mistake wasn’t panicking at the sight of the blood on my bumper,” he said. “My first mistake was thinking I needed one more drink.”

I mentally made a list of initial mistakes that often ended badly.

Trying the drug just once. Driving a little drunk. Ignoring the chest pain. Lying on a tax form. Texting the toxic ex. Taking one, maybe two more than prescribed. 

Letting the dog up on the bed just this once.

The list went on.

“It’s that first mistake that kills you,” I said to no one in particular.

Today I’ll try not to make that first mistake.

  

Novella 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

Novella

 

Do The Next Right Thing

When I got to work the next day, my code didn’t work on the front entrance.  I went to a side door. My code worked, but the back door to the office suite was locked and I didn’t have that key.

I called building maintenance. They would try to send someone out.

Two hours later I walked into my office.  I looked at my list of deadlines and 2Do’s, and cursed.  

“I am so behind,” I said to my laptop.  

My laptop made a little whirring noise, its way of sighing.

I started worrying about how much I couldn’t get done, but stopped myself.

“Do the Next Right Thing,” I said, quoting an AA slogan.  I didn’t get everything done, but a little of my anxiety melted away with each thing I did.

 

Today I will Do the Next Right Thing.

 

Novella 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

Novella

Oldies But Goodies

That night I watched a movie with Dr. Deb, remembering when we were young and broke. TV movies were the only entertainment we could afford.

Now that we could go out, we stayed home, never getting tired of each other’s company.

 My phone buzzed. I laughed out loud as I traded insulting texts with an old friend.  Friends got old, but some friendships never did.

The cat curled up on my lap. His purring was one of the most soothing sounds I’d ever heard.  He was getting old, but his relaxing presence wasn’t.

There were things in life that got old quickly. I was grateful for all the good parts that didn’t.

Today I’ll be grateful for things that don’t get old.

Novella 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

 

Novella

 

Take Care

I got a call from someone asking if I could recommend a therapist.

Her brother had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. She had thought his forgetfulness was due to his heavy drinking.  The alcohol had only worsened his diabetes.

“I’m the only one he’s got,” she said, “and I’m already feeling overwhelmed.  I kinda resent him. I need to talk to someone to help me sort this out.”   

Knowing she had a tough road ahead, she was determined to take care of herself.

“I’m no good to him if I don’t take care of me,” she said.

I thought her situation was extreme, but many of us would be wise to take better care of ourselves, for our own sake, and for others around us.

Today I will take care of me.

 

Novella 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

Novella

Life on Life’s #$%@# Terms

Some days don’t go according to plan. The next day, I’d forgotten to set my alarm, slept in.

After I replaced a flat tire, I left my laptop at home and had to return from work to get it. By the time I got back I forgot all about the conference call I’d set up.  I was too busy crying over the broken Keurig.

The afternoon didn’t go much better.

“Life on life’s terms,” I said to my laptop. “You have to accept things aren’t always going to go your way.”

I said it, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I’d let petty annoyances seem like major issues.

I got a call just before I left that put things in perspective.

Today I will accept life on life’s terms.

Novella 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

 

Novella

NOVELLA

Wasted

I felt a great sense of accomplishment as I showered. It was 6:30 a.m., I’d cleared half a dozen sidewalks, and no new snow was predicted.

Certain clouds had missed the weather forecast.  

In the time it took me to get ready for work, half an inch of new snow fell, with more coming down.

At first, I thought my effort was wasted, but changed my mind.

At the very least every good effort can be the start of a good habit, like helping out your neighbors.

 

Today I’ll remember no good effort is truly wasted.

 

Novella 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