There have been many times over the years when I’ve wanted to speak to you. The words have changed, the further I’ve gone from you. At first I was angry. I thought of you as weak for not hitting back. Then it was embarrassing to think about and to be reminded of being degraded. Finally, I think about you and just get sad.
There are common themes for recovered addicts, survivors of near death experiences and trauma. It’s the second chance. You have this new lease on life and you’re determined to make every second count. I think I mistook this for being driven and goal obsessed while not reminding myself of “why“.
It’s not like I’ll ever forget why I’m sober now. I don’t go to AA anymore but I acknowledge the choice I made to get sober and stay sober frequently. The physical and mental health improvements speak for themselves too. I’m trying to acknowledge something different, the dark side of The Drive.
Everything eventually has its tipping point if left unchecked. I’ve had many irons in the fire for several years to the point where I don’t remember what it was like before I had such a full schedule. Now it’s at the point where if I’m not moving, I feel “lost”. Going somewhere. Training for something. Volunteering myself for whatever. The Shark has to be in constant forward motion.
This wasn’t the plan I had for myself it just kind of happened. I didn’t want to be that person standing there getting punched in the face by their spouse, cursed at and pathetic. Codependent No More and never looking back is how I thought of myself once that was over, and that meant always striving to be strong, to be powerful and never treated like that again. They were correlating goals in my eyes.
But when that’s the sole source of The Drive you won’t ever be content. You’ll get to the false finish line of endless races and you won’t find it here.
So to My Former Self, if I could talk to you now I would finally give you Grace. I would tell you we’d never be back here again. We’d have nearly a decade of sobriety someday. That we’d get FULL CUSTODY of our daughter. That it’d be ok once we were finally able to walk away. You’ll get to where you were destined to go and I’m sorry you’re having to experience this in order to get there.
– your friend, you
9.06.2024