January 15
NO MAPS
Maps have existed longer than I have. By the time of my birth, aerial photography
had made pinpoint accuracy the norm. I
can be tracked by satellite on my daily commute. I can get a Trip Tik and travel to the far
reaches of this continent.
"So what’s your problem?” asks my sponsor.
There is no map for where we’ve been going. There are the twelve steps but after that, it
is all uncharted territory, except, of course for my family’s warnings about
dragons.
“Those critters stay to
home mostly. You have bigger things to
worry about.”
So, where’s the map?
I need to know where to go.
“No map. We go
through this together. The pitfalls are
similar: sex and money. There are a few
others. What each of us finds on this
journey is unchartable, plus if you spend your time looking down, you will miss
the view. We prop each other up as we
step off into the unknown, and reel each other back if we start falling off the
beam.”
How do I know if I’m doing it right?
“Are you still sober?”
Yes, but I’m unsure.
Lots of people are sober right up until the time they’re drunk.
“So true. It’s all
about motive, and it’s difficult to chart your heart. Do you have willingness?”
Yes, you know I do.
“I have found that is the vehicle to everywhere, Honey. Learn to enjoy the ride.”
Write silly verse.
*
Comparison Shopping
Cost analysis of the yeas and nays
requires a savvy consumer.
Every word has a variable price
dependent on whom it is spoken to
and when it is said.
Some words charge compound interest
and others pay dividends.
Timing and delivery is of the utmost importance.
Knowledge of the markets requires constant assessment.
The risk to benefit ratio varies widely
and the short term verses the long term price
can flip the market from profit to loss.
Hold my tongue, speak my mind,
these must be weighed;
the clock consulted and inventories taken.
What I say and when
can be less a matter of bull or bear
than whether or not I can afford to be a sheep.
You are reading selections from Sober on the Way to Sane
and More Lines From My Life by Sherrie Theriault
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