Monday, August 28, 2006

Six Years Of Sobriety? I'll Drink To That! (Just Kidding)

As of today I’ve been sober for six years.
I’m celebrating this momentous occasion by not celebrating, as it was celebrating that ultimately led me to have to give up drinking in the first place.
Okay, it wasn’t so much celebration as self-destructive debauchery, though of course it was a rather tame sort of “debauchery” as it didn’t involve any of the really fun kinds of debauching.
To be perfectly honest, staying sober hasn’t been too much of a struggle.  I mean, basically it involves not doing something, and I’m very good at not doing stuff.
And, to continue in the vein of being honest, while, all things considered, I’d probably rather not be sober, that’s not really an option, so it’s not something I spend much time thinking about.
But the fact remains that sometimes I do miss drinking, especially given that the fact that not drinking means that there’s this big part of life that’s closed off to me.
That would probably bother me a little less if that part of life had not formerly been the primary part of my life, and maybe it would be easier for me to find other ways to have fun and enjoy life if that hadn’t been the only source of fun and enjoyment for me, though, again with the honesty, I wasn’t really having that much fun or enjoying life when I was drunk anyway.
Far from it.
Still, there were some good times in there, and I do miss some of my old drinking buddies, and the whole “Cheers effect” of having that place where everyone knows your etc.
But then honesty pops up again and I’m forced to admit that I miss the time spent sitting alone in the dark and drinking just as much as I miss the time spent with my friends, and I realize what it is that I really miss and I’m reminded of why it is that I did eventually sober up.
In any case, today marks six years so I thought I would mention it, and yay me or whatever, but, just like I’ve been doing for the last six years, it’s time to get back to getting on with it.
Today that involved waking up at 6 am, saying, “Screw that,” and going back to sleep for two and a half hours.
Once I did get up I fell into my usual routine of not doing anything in particular, eventually getting around to showering, shaving, getting dressed, and heading out into the world for gas, food, and whatnot.
The whole thing was over before noon, and I realized that not only was my day over, my entire week was over, as at this point I have no reason to venture out into the world again until Thursday.
While I was on my way home I saw something that confused me a great deal:  a Ford Festiva, being driven by a woman, adorned with the compass and square symbol of the Masons.  I mean, huh?  Aren’t Masons supposed to be rich?  And male?
I mean, certainly you don’t expect to see Free and Accepted Masons driving around in a Ford Festiva, a car that even my cheap piece of crap can feel superior to.
Must not be very high up in the conspiracy.

1 comment:

Merlin T Wizard said...

Congrats on your sobriety, Jon! I know it has not always been easy. I admire your perseverance in the face of your addiction, whether or not you believe you exhibited any.