I get that this isn’t the liveliest blog on the internet, and, honest, I have no idea how many people are reading this. But, you know, it’s helped me over the years to come here and tell my story. Remember how way back ten years ago I told you that I had drank for 30 years? And now it’s ten years later. I’ll be 55 in two weeks and I’m shocked that I made it this far. I never really gave much thought to “getting old”, and I’m sure I would have called a 55-year old “old” when I was 15. Or 20. Or maybe even 30. Aside from the fact that I truly believed I’d be dead long before I hit “old age”, I really had no interest in being the old guy. I used to think (and probably said a time or two) that I didn’t want to be the 55 or 60 year old guy. I guess those perspectives change as you get closer to the target number.
I still have zero interest in being the 80-year old guy in the nursing home, although I’ll probably feel differently when I’m 75. I dunno.
Anyway, back to my sobriety. How the hell did that happen? It happened one day at a time (ODAT). I started in AA and did the 90 in 90 and my particular home group saved my life. I highly recommend you try to find a home group that feels like home – if you don’t make that connection on the first couple of tries, shop around the groups in your community.
So, I told you about a year ago that I had moved to the beach and was sitting in the hot tub. Life is still going well and I’m enjoying my “near retirement”. Said another way, I’m still working, yet I’m working in a job that I really enjoy and carry zero stress from the job into my life. Some of that is the job, but most of it is my way of thinking about the job.
My kids are doing great, and – if they ever thought about stuff like this – would probably tell you that it’s better to have Dad in the picture than him having blown his brains our or gotten locked up because he couldn’t figure out how to stop drinking. How did I do it? One Day at a Time, Brother, ODAT.
I hope you’re laughing along with my paltry attempt to keep a blog outlining my sobriety – life got in the way. And it’s wonderful that I gave a shit enough to get my life restarted so I could enjoy that time with my family.
ODAT Amen.
dan