It has been a rough few days. After an as-good-as-can-be-expected Christmas, I find myself in a state of loneliness and fear. Circumstantial events haven’t helped much. On Friday, the wife and kids took off for her sister-in-laws. I felt good. I had the house to myself and had a productive day of basement demolition as work on renovation progressed. My sledge hammer therapy seemed to help and I had the satisfaction of filling my bagster before it started snowing.

That evening I had a men’s group meeting. After the meeting is when things took a turn. I was on to some post-meeting appetizers at a nearby mexican restaurant (half-priced appetizers at that) with one of my friends from the group. It had started snowing and the temperature had dropped fast making the roads very icy. On the way to the restaurant I lost control of my car and…well you can see my sad car here…

Essentially, the bumper was peeled off like a band-aid. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the damage is mostly cosmetic. I was able to drive home and had a pretty good/accepting attitude about it, but I think that eroded over the weekend. As my counselor says, I take a little while to process stuff and indeed sadness crept in. I need to remember that there’s still a lot to be grateful for and I have a higher power that cares. This could have been much worse and there are a number of things in my favor:

  • I was able to borrow a car from my folks.
  • My wife was genuinely concerned for me when I told her what happened.
  • My brother works for an auto parts supplier and was able to get me all new replacement parts drastically cheaper than they would be from a normal retailer
  • I was still able to go out and enjoy some time with friends this weekend.
  • The demolition project marches on.

And just as my post title says, I’ll keep marching on and try not to sink into self pity and escape with my bad habits.