Big Accomplishment
...and I just had to share.
I had a terrible, rotten day today at work (I work with at-risk youth who have not completed high school...we don't use the word "drop out.") It's rewarding to me in many ways when I see them move on and be successful in life, but there's always a bad egg or two around.
Our most recent bad egg is bipolar and not taking her medication. Long story short, she flipped out today and tried to punch me in the face.
The cool thing (if I may toot my own horn for a moment) is that I caught her by the wrist, avoided getting punched and pinned her to the ground (I didn't hurt her; I had no desire to, I was simply defending myself.)
The non-cool thing is that the experience left me feeling angry, frustrated, sad, depressed, and unable to cope. I did not know what to do with these feelings. I was thisclose to going home and drowning my sorrows in alcohol.
But why throw 23 days of sobriety down the drain? I've worked hard for it.
So I went home, called a lady from my AA group and unloaded on her. That helped. Then I did the most random thing and decided that instead of drinking, I would dye my hair. Hey, whatever works I guess.
Today gave me hope that I can get through even the hard times without picking up a drink, and for that I am grateful.