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

 

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

 

Bottle Fatigue

“Sharon’s getting divorced,” Dr. Deb said over dinner.

Sharon was an acquaintance who’d recently gotten married for the third time.

“Why?” I asked.  I expected to hear he was cheating, maybe gambling, possibly abusive.

“He collects old glass bottles from the 1800s.”

“You’re kidding.”

Dr. Deb shook her head. “Nope, that’s it.  I met him. Great guy.  There was a lot to like about him.”

“Ah, but he has a problem with the bottle,” I said, laughing at my own joke. “He’s all bottled up inside. Life’s a daily bottle for him.”

Dr. Deb rolled her eyes. “Are you done?”

I nodded, and said, “If you want to be happy, it pays to focus on what you like about people.”

 

Today I’ll focus on what I like about people.

 

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

 

Coconut Bars Aren’t Kayaks, but…

At the end of a long day, I said to my laptop, “Maybe I should treat myself now and then, because why not?”

‘I think I’m going to treat myself,” I texted Dr. Deb as I walked to my car.

‘Finally going to get that kayak?’ Dr. Deb asked. I had been looking at fishing kayaks for years but couldn’t seem to pull the trigger on buying one.

‘I’m gonna get coconut bars from the fancy schmancy bakery.’

Laughing emoji. ‘I think you deserve a kayak, but I guess coconut bars are OK.’

I texted back, ‘You don’t have to tie them to your roof, and you’re unlikely to drown while eating one.’

Smiling emoji, ‘Blueberry muffin, please.’ I got her two.

 

Today I will treat myself.

 

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

 

“Chinchilla, chinchilla, chin, chin, cheree…”

Two minutes later I got a text from Sam. He said I was right. Raising ferrets was a bad idea. He was going to breed chinchillas.

I started to text him back, thinking I’d use logic to show him raising chinchillas was every bit as bad an idea as starting a ferret farm in his apartment.

Deep down, I knew I was wasting my time. I’d made my point with the ferrets. Time to let it go, before arguing ruined my day.

I ignored the text, and looked into groups that helped find homes for chinchillas.

I started thinking of other things I needed to let go; petty resentments, people pleasing, worry about the future, etc.

Today I will let go of something.

 

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

 

Ferrets and Painful Truths

I wondered what Sam wanted to start, and not finish, this time.  I called him.

He had been considering breeding ferrets.  His enthusiasm was inspiring.  For just a second, I wanted to tell him it was a great idea, maybe even ask if I could invest in his project.

Play the tape through, I thought, remembering the AA slogan. How does this end?

I had a horrible image of a ferret army overrunning smaller boroughs in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs.  Tiny, pointy faces popping up in windows, terrifying the elderly.  Cats and dogs refusing to go outside.

I told Sam I thought ferret breeding was a terrible idea.  I could hear the hurt in his voice.

Later, I said to the cat, “Sometimes you gotta tell people things they don’t want to hear.”

I thought of all the people who’d told me I had a drinking problem. I hadn’t wanted to hear them either, but they’d made me think. I was grateful for them.

 

Today I may have to tell someone something they don’t want to hear.

 

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 will return tomorrow.

Have a great New Year! 
 

Novella

 

Proud

I texted her back to say I was proud of her. Even though she described herself as a follower, she’d stopped following her family’s pattern of daily drinking.

She responded with an eye-roll emoji, and ‘It’s your job to tell people you’re proud of their progress.’

‘True,’ I texted back, ‘but that doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.’

She didn’t answer right away. I continued. ‘Forget about me. How about you make a list of reasons to be proud of yourself.’

She sent a smiling emoji. ‘I can do that,’ she wrote. ‘But I don’t want to become arrogant.’

‘Pride doesn’t become arrogance until you start looking down on others. Be proud.’

 

Today I will make a list of reasons to be proud of myself.

 

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

 

Moooving On

The next message was from a woman who’d gone through the rehab.

She was struggling to stay sober, living with her alcoholic family. She knew what I was going to say. We’d had this conversation in person.

‘Lead, follow, or get out of the way,’ I wrote.

If you’re a leader, break off from the herd and head in another direction. Set a good example and people may follow.

If you’re a follower, who doesn’t like where you’re being led, you have to get out of the way, either following a different herd, or grazing somewhere else on your own.

‘Your herd is stumbling toward a cliff.  Time for you to move onto greener pastures.’

She sent a laughing emoji, and wrote ‘Not crazy about being compared to a cow.’

 

Today I will lead, follow, or get out of the way.

 

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

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Something Else

Corporate couldn’t make the building manager let me bring DD to work. Nor could they bring back all the people who had left.  I was getting close to retirement age.

I remembered some advice my first sponsor gave me, “You heard that saying, if there’s nothing you can do, you do nothing?”

I had nodded.

“Sometimes you’re better off doing something else.”

I had told him I didn’t follow.

“Too many people who can’t do something, do nothing but miss whatever they can’t do. It’s a misuse of acceptance.”

I had gotten his point.

“Accept you can’t drink, but don’t be a dry drunk, making everyone around you miserable because you miss alcohol.  Find something else.”

He had nodded.  “You’re not drinking.  What are you doing instead?”

I had started playing basketball again, while working on getting back to school. I had begun writing.

Remembering that conversation made me realize it was time to start something new.  I sent Randy a message saying I wanted to cut back on my hours. I had a novel to write.

 

Today I will start something new.

 

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

 

Is That Coffee I Smell?

I asked them to draw the nose on the stick figure and list three favorite smells.

A guy named Rudy said, “I can still smell the coffee my ex drank in the kitchen, always by herself, because I was too hungover to get out of bed.  No wonder she left me.”

Rudy shook his head and smiled, “Now I’m starting to love the smell of coffee when I come here in the morning. It smells like hope.”

A young man named Art snorted. “I remember the smell of the detective’s coffee the first time I was interrogated. I’ve done my time, and I’m getting sober.  Coffee smells like freedom to me.”

Someone asked me if coffee was on my list.

Coffee had gone from the only thing keeping me moving the morning after a binge to my favorite way to start the day.

After I got sober, I worked for the same facility for eight years, then twenty-three at another. I’d always been where my children needed me. Dr. Deb and I had celebrated our 31^st anniversary that year.

“To me,” I told the group, “morning coffee smells like being responsible, fatherhood, and love.  Savoring those things, is part of stopping to smell the coffee for me.”

 

Today I will stop and smell the coffee.

 

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

 Just A Moment

I spent a lot of my time thinking ‘I’ve got to get the next thing done.’

That night I was sitting with my laptop open, half watching TV, trying to work on a short story.  I couldn’t have said why.

“Time for bed,” Dr. Deb said. I told her I’d be up in a minute. I looked at what I’d written. It was awful. I could feel my frustration in my bones.

I remembered a conversation I’d overheard. An AA oldtimer quoted the Bible to a newcomer who was struggling with a number of issues: “Be still, and know that I am.”

A sad look crossed the young man’s face as he told the oldtimer he was an atheist.

“Then just be still,” the oldtimer said.  “Take a moment to just put it all aside. Whatever is bothering you will still be there after you’ve had a peaceful moment.”

 

Today I’ll take a moment to just be still.

 

 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

Second Chances

Margaret the Newbie called me from jail while I was at the conference. She complained bitterly that the court system owed her a second chance.

“They don’t owe you anything,” I said.  “We are not guaranteed second chances.”

“I don’t belong here,” she wailed.

“You showed up drunk at a school, fought with the principal, and tried to kick a cop.”

She went back to insisting she deserved a second chance, before hanging up on me.

I thought of painful conversations I’d had with people who realized too late you don’t always get a second chance.

You don’t get a second chance to raise your kids.  Sometimes the marriage can’t be saved. You can’t say the things you wanted to say to lost loved ones before they passed away.

 

Today I know second chances are not guaranteed.

 

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

FAWLTY SHOWERS 2

 

The next day I was scheduled to speak at a three-day conference. The timing couldn't have been worse. Work had stacked up on my desk.  I had two trainings the next week I wanted to revise. 

On the drive to the conference I saw a sign for a flea market, pie by the slice, and fresh cider.

"Can't do this," I said to myself. "Don't have time."

The car had other ideas. I pulled up, bought a slice of pie and a glass of cider. I joked about football with a guy in an Eagles jersey and bought a slightly chipped ceramic frog for my pond.

When I got to the conference I realized I wasn't half as worried as I had been before I stopped. 

"It's all about taking a moment for yourself," I said to the car.  It could have been my imagination, but I thought I felt the car shudder a bit, as if to say, 'stopping was my idea.'

 

Today I'll take a moment for 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

 Moving

“Are you going to the gym?” Dr. Deb called from the living room as I walked into the kitchen.  I wanted to, but knew the next several minutes I’d be tempted not to.

“Maybe I’ll watch a little TV with you and go later,” I said.

Dr. Deb laughed. “If we start watching, what are the chances you’ll get up and go?”

I sighed. “Slim to none. So much easier to keep moving than to start moving. Better to keep the positive momentum going.”

“So get moving. We can eat when you get back.”

 

Today I’ll keep the positive momentum going.

 

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

 

I Can Live With That

That night Margaret the Newbie called me from jail.  She’d left a bar and hit a man walking his dog. He was in bad shape. She was in deep trouble.

“I’ll have to live with this for the rest of my life,” she said.

I felt bad for her, knowing years ago that could have been me in jail, wishing I hadn’t made the decision to drive drunk.

Sitting in my comfortable living room, Dr. Deb beside me, dog on my lap, content and at ease with the world, I was glad I’d made decisions I could live with.

 

Today I’ll make decisions I can live with.

 

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

 

On the Patch

“Maybe you were just dating the wrong guys when you were drinking,” I said to Epiphany. “What’s this one like?”

Epiphany smiled. “He’s a nuclear engineer.  He wears a little badge that warns him if he’s getting too much exposure to radiation. He gave me an idea for a new business.”

“What kind of business?”

“I want to develop a patch that tells you when you’ve had too much contact with toxic people.”

I laughed. “Sounds like a great idea. In the meantime, maybe we could try to stay away from those folks as much as we can.”

“Or we could do that, at least until I develop the patch.”

 

Today I’ll limit my exposure to toxic people.

 

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

Balance

Sitting in my office the next day, I looked back on the year.  Almost as a reflex, I started thinking of all the things I hadn’t done.

“Why do I do this to myself?” I asked DD the Bunny. He didn’t have an answer for me.  “Here’s something I am going to do. I’m going to take my own advice and take a balanced look at myself.”

I started listing the things I had done, starting with racking up another year sober.

Today I’ll take a balanced look at my 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

 

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