Vandals!

Someone stabbed my pool last night (this is not an Elton John song though, of course, I went there, Sugar Babe)! Truthfully, they stabbed it Sunday night. It is obvious that the perpetrator is inexperienced because the wound is only about 12 inches from the top of the pool. It is one of those blow-up-the-ring-on-top-and-fill-it pools with about 3 feet of water below the ring. Still, the injury it serious enough that the life of the pool is threatened.

Luckily, I am a drug addict. It is even luckier (for everyone involved) I am in the recovery program ETA. I am, of course, unhappy with the situation but I did not go into a rage and I'm not running fantasies in my head on possible retaliatory actions to take should I ever discover the jerks responsible for the crime. Nor did I demand the authorities dispatch crime scene experts to comb the area gathering evidence and search for clues in an effort to bring someone to justice. This is progress for me.

As I said, luckily I am a drug addict in recovery and have worked the steps, especially step 9: Made direct amends....., so I am familiar with mending things. I am also aware that there are many ways to go about a mending as well as the fact that, sometimes, it takes more than a single attempt before true mending is achieved.

I developed the skill of getting what I want when I was in active addiction. In actuality, I damn near sold my soul acquiring that skill. "How can I get what I want?" was the recurring theme of my boozing and using life. Once I got clean and sober, I discovered that I need not discard such an expensive ability; but I did have to modify it. There is no doubt that I know how to manipulate things, people, circumstances, all that stuff. In recovery I discovered that, by stripping the selfishness out of my ability to manipulate, I am left with an amazing ability to solve problems. Which brings us back to the pool.

What is the goal? The goal is to have a pool with enough water I can exercise and swim in.
How can I achieve the goal, AKA get what I want? I tried patching it without removing any more water than had already drained out from the wound.
Did this action produce the desired result? No. It still leaked. Dang.
The goal remains the same, but I go back to thinking about how to achieve the goal. And guess what? I've got another idea! But I'm going to need someone to help me implement the new plan so I called a friend and asked if she could come over to play. I very briefly told her the situation and she agreed. (I know, I know. I can't believe she agreed either! She even knows me fairly well!) She just pulled into the driveway so I have to finish this up now. I shall keep you posted.

Have a good and sober day.