I
7:55. Friday, 24th January, 2025.
Friday! Finally, Friday! The best day of the week. A powerful wind howls outside, but the sun has almost risen, and the sky it reveals is a perfect blue. That must mean something, right? God shines His radiance upon us to celebrate Friday – His most glorious creation.
I also celebrate something else today. A notable milestone. Today, I am four weeks sober. There is a certain mental clarity which arrives at this point in sobriety. That’s not to say every rotten part of me is fixed. My energy still lacks. I still suffer anxious thoughts. Yet they are both getting better by the hour. Every year, I commit to at least one month of abstinence. A way for my brain to recalibrate and my body to heal. The longest I’ve stayed sober was three months in 2021. I haven’t set myself a timescale this year, but I will stay sober at least until after my meditation retreat next month. I like the motivation it gives me, how my writing prospers, and how my face receives a healthy glow. Albeit, I cannot say I completely miss inebriation. Nevertheless, whenever I reach the New Year, I find I don’t struggle whatsoever during my sobriety stint. When I do go back to drinking though, I need to make sure I don’t go overboard, which happens every time. My impulsivity lessens each year, but I need to get better to the point where intoxication doesn’t affect my life.
Right, I best start work, I cannot slack, even today. It is Friday though; therefore, work is irrelevant. Yes, thankfully, the end is nigh.
II
9:43 and I have been grafting hard.
Whilst cleaning the big canteen, I tested my blood pressure with a machine that they keep in there. My results were: 123/78/93. To say I’ve been sweating, that’s a good result. Sometimes, when I test my blood pressure – especially last year when I got smashed every weekend – the machine will show high results, but I put this down to lifestyle and hard work. My dad has high blood pressure so I guess it could run in the family. Thus, I like to keep an eye on it just in case. It isn’t abnormal for people to have heart problems in their 30s. Even professional footballers have collapsed on the pitch from cardiac arrest. I don’t worry so much about death any more. It doesn’t frighten me as much as it did a few years ago. Nonetheless, I don’t want to die a young man. There is still so much of life I am yet to experience, so many places unchartered, so many deeds undone. I want to experience as much as I can in my ephemeral life. So, please, Grim Reaper, don’t snatch me from existence for at least four more decades. Actually, if you can take me at 100, well, that would be great.
III
10:33, less than half the shift remains.
I have just been across to another little building which I clean once a week. The wind is blustering outside now. No sign of rain, though. Clear skies and sunshine. If not for the wind it would be an idyllic morning. But because of the wind, litter and leaves swirl in the air. Naked tree branches shake. And, when out in it, I felt myself being almost lifted from my feet. Nothing makes you feel more inconsequential than the forces of nature. For all our advancements in industry, technology, and healthcare, we are powerless against Mother Nature: if she wanted, she could destroy us with one almighty disaster. Human beings have been mostly wiped out by such disasters before, forced to start over, and rebuild once again. Maybe one such disaster is due for us now. Hopefully. I’m of the opinion we all need wiping out. Mankind is the plague on this planet. We murder each other and everything around us. We are sick minded and loathsome creatures. Wouldn’t it be better without us? I think so. The planet would certainly thrive.
IV
11:47 and the shift is basically finito!
Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory halleluuuuujah! And I go marching on, on, on!
Nothing is sweeter than this moment. When you are about to finish work on a Friday with plenty hours remaining. It is basically an extra day of the weekend. You can do anything. The possibilities are endless. Go swim in the ocean. Go kiss the broad you love. Go swing from trees and dance with monkeys. Anything is possible, right?
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