Corking the Bottle

I am doing my part to halt the spread of the coronavirus. I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer. I wear a mask in public. I leave my house only when I have a real need. And this morning, I had a covid-19 test. It's no longer necessary to display symptoms to get a test. Kentucky Governor Beshear, during his daily news briefings, encourages all to take a test. I made an appointment online. There was no waiting. I drove up, cracked my window, and received a swab and a vial. Sticking that baby up my nose made me sneeze like crazy, That was the only discomfort. For my effort I received a mask, tissues, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. No charge. The hand sanitizer has the consistency of water -- or whiskey -- not like lotion. According to the label, it consists of 80% alcohol. Eighty percent? Do you know what I would have been tempted to try to do with that if I was still drinking and was out of booze? Yuk! But if I could drink a bottle of mouthwash back in my crazy days, I pr

Running long distances was my passion. I ran races anywhere from 6.2 miles to 50 miles. Compared to other runners I was okay, but certainly not a standout. What mattered was competing against myself by reducing my time. The bottom line was keeping fit and healthy and, unlike my father, living to be older than 49. I was maybe in my prime when my knee started bothering me. I ran through it. Don't let a little bit of pain slow me down, I thought. Rub some dirt on it and sign up for another race. Ignore the problem and it will go away. It didn't work out that way. I eventually had to see a doctor. After arthroscopic surgery and a long recovery, I went back to running. My knee still hurt and kept getting worse. I ignored the problem. It still didn't go away. "Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit," wrote M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled ( http://www.mscot

I drank to numb myself from hurts and negative feelings. In doing so,  I have come to find out I also numbed my feelings of joy, happiness, creativity, love...all my positive emotions. We need to accept our pains so that we don't numb ourselves to the glory of living. “We cannot  selectively numb  emotions. When we  numb  the painful emotions, we also  numb  the positive emotions. Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness.”  -- Brene Brown