Small Victories.
Updated: Sep 3, 2018
Lucille Ball once said, "Remember to recognize the small successes that you will have. Don't let the brightness of that big goal blind you to what happens on the way toward the goal. Meet one wave at a time and enjoy what progress you make. I want you please not to be taken up in the undertow of pessimism."
Today, I will celebrate my small successes from the past 12 days:
1. I found a really yummy recipe for a MOCKtail that was refreshing and satisfied the desire to drink while we entertained out of town family.
2. In Arizona, we had a very important event happen last week. Our public school teachers/staff participated in a six day walk-out to fight for increase funding for education. Over 50,000 people marched the streets of downtown Phoenix and spent days and nights at the Capitol. I work at a public school and therefor I was off work for 6 full school days. Had I not started this personal journey the day the walk-out started I would have likely drank every night simply because I was home and didn't have the responsibility of getting up for work the next day. I would have drank because I was "stressed" from the kids boredom or petty arguments. I would have drank because it would help me deal with the stress of the walk-out. I would have drank my first day back to work because of the craziness. However, I did NOT drink during this time at home and it felt so good to go back to work last week on Friday refreshed, not tired, and very clear headed.
3. Rick and I went out for a quick dinner date on Friday night. Rick ordered a lemonade and I ordered a soda! Whoop whoop! We actually looked around the small restaurant and counted a large number of table with couples & families that only had sodas or water on their table. We were actually in the majority at this restaurant of people NOT drinking. What a cool observation.
4. We went to our nephew's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It also happened to be Cinco De Mayo. While they had margarita's available, I chose to drink my gatorade on ice in a one of the fun and fancy margarita glasses but most of the time I didn't even have a beverage in my hand. I didn't feel stressed, I didn't feel out of place, and I had the same amount of fun I usually have!
5. Rick shared one of his successes with me today as well. He spent the day in the heat doing yard work and chores. When he was done he made homemade salsa and guacamole and grilled up carne asada. He said he recognized that in the past he would have immediately grabbed a beer when he was done with his yard work and he would have drank many as he was grilling. He said it felt great to know that he would wake up on Monday feeling good.