UnComfortably Numb

Yep, that about sums up my existence right about now.  Nothing bad is happening per say, but neither is anything good.  Life is moving at the speed of sound and I am standing still watching it all happen to everyone, but me.

The other day, I told my mom that being broke in southern California is like going to Disneyland, but not being allowed to ride any of the rides.  It just plain sucks.  I feel like I am sitting on a track, only there is a race going on and I am the only runner not running.  The only thing that does seem to be happening is the increase in the number of fine lines on my now aging face.

It would be an understatement to say that I am having a case of the blahs and to make matters worse my sunshine fell out of my back pocket blocks ago.  I need to find a way to be interested in life again.  Yes, it is true that some of this blah is connected to the fact that I am coming up on one year of sobriety so that first year funk is rolling in like a thick and non-dissipating marine layer determined to ruin everyone’s day at the beach.  On top of the funk is the wonderful sugar doldrums as I am three weeks into my new diabetic existence. (But I do have to add that being able to eat all day long and not gain a pound is awesome and might I add that diabetes is a very unexpected way to answer that lifelong prayer of being naturally thin!)  On top of my now sober and sugar free existence is complete boredom at work and financial strain every waking moment of the day. 

I guess the one thing that I am not doing (that usually makes everything better) is writing, not that I haven’t been given some story ideas.  I just find it hard to focus on writing when my own well-being is not in order.  I am putting pressure on myself to find a new job because I feel that I am too old to not have a career of some sort.  And I fear that if I don’t find something soon, I am going to cross that age line and only be considered for the positions that no one else wants.  The eternal spirit inside me is screaming, “This is not how life was supposed to turn out!  You were supposed to move to a sleepy beach town, get married, have fur babies and write novels and plays from your chic home office with a sea view.  What happened!”  

The answer is I happened.  I made bad decisions and walked down roads I shouldn’t have and as I look at the future that is now in front of me I shudder.  The future is not yet set, but it is not looking good either.  I guess I just have to keep in mind that one moment can change the course of my life completely.  One moment can make everything I am going through worth it.  One moment can connect all the dots that I cannot connect right now.  Until then I just have to keep doing my part: stay sober, work on bettering myself both inside and out, keep working my steps, keep my commitments and keep trusting that if God is going to this much trouble to make me anew, He must have something for this new me to do.

“A story only matters, I suspect, to the extent that which people in the story change.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane