Journal of Fear and Hope

Celebrating 45 Years of Sobriety
January 24, 2020

I try to avoid thoughts of what my life might have been had I been dealt better cards or rolled better stats. That kind of thinking is pointless. I'm not where or who I thought would be when I was a child, but I got exactly what everyone gets, a lifetime. And in that lifetime I got to do some pretty great things with some pretty great people. If that means swallowing an ounce of depression for every cup of comfort, then I say bottoms up.

There's no guaranty my life would have been better. With my father as role model, I might have been a drunk, a junkie. I could have died on a waterfall that one time had I not been lucky. Any number of things could have gone wrong and ruined or ended my life. I got what I got, and I try to sift out the broken glass and hold on to the gold. There's a lot of gold in your life if you look for it.

--More Journal Entries--

"Too many flames with too much to burn, and life's only made of paper" --Ronnie James Dio

"Words are flowing out
Like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away
Across the universe" --John Lennon

"Bow to the paper Gods in a world that is paper thin
The fools in town are ruling now" --Duran Duran

"Here I sit writing on the paper
Trying to think of words you can't ignore"
--Alice in Chains

"Working for paper and for iron
Work for the right to keep my tie on
Working for paper and for iron
Work for the unicorn and lion" --XTC