I have ceased sedating myself.
I am much more aware.
I am aware of so much more.
My eyes have developed super-vision.
Some things I see are shocking and sad.
Others are exciting and joyous.
Everyday scenes can take on a different vibe through a sober lens.
In a restaurant last night, I watched, with Matrix-like slow-mo, a bottle of highly addictive poison passed around the table.
Some participants showed signs of its destructive nature, and others spoke of how terrible they felt the morning afters.
All appeared oblivious to the reality of what they were doing.
Old memories play differently, too.
For many years, I affectively took on the mantle of ‘pusher’ for the brewing conglomerates and, by word and example, encouraged my children’s descent into this incarnate madness.
Thank God they proved wiser than I and, along with a joyous percentage of youth today, choose not to drink from this poisoned chalice.
Sobriety has also awakened me from a provincial dream state where my options appeared limited.
I am now Christopher Columbus, where the visible world before me, with all its choices, opportunities, avenues of exploration, delights, experiences, and potential breadth for life, has just increased dramatically.
I am reconsidering my future.
How shall I re-invent myself for the next stage of life?
What interests me?
What is possible?
Everything.
Wow! Come on! OMG! The sublime joy of that last answer! Yes.