Wild at Heart

My discovery of booze was a windfall – lightening in a bottle and instant entertainment.  It didn’t matter if I was in a nightclub and surrounded by a thousand people or sitting by myself in an empty stairwell (you’d be amazed at how cool your voice sounds while singing a drunken solo in an empty stairwell) With a bottle in my hand, I was content. 

This contentment came with a price.  My "Wild at heart and crazy on top" lifestyle was slowly killing me.  I was 33 years old when I found sobriety, but I felt like I was 60.

The bent of nature leans toward the wild.  If you don’t tend your garden, the weeds will overgrow the fruit and destroy the plot of ground.  The same goes with addiction: neglect your body, soul, and mind and watch your physical, spiritual, and mental well being eek away.  Regarding your sobriety: neglect your contact with God, relinquish commitments, stop going to meetings, and watch your life deteriorate. 

One day I saw a wonderful old gal sitting on her front stoop. I walked up to her and said,"I couldn't help noticing how happy you look! What is your secret for such a long happy life?"

"I smoke ten stogies a day," she said. "Before I go to bed, I smoke a nice big joint. All my life I've eaten only junk food and I put away at least a fifth of Jack Daniels every night. On weekends I pop pills, and never do any exercise at all." 

"Absolutely amazing," I thought, and asked, "How old are you?"

    
"Twenty-four."