Member-only story
I Quit Drinking for Six Weeks — Then This Happened
A tale of hope . . . and caution
I remember the confrontation.
Standing in front of my closet. Looking in.
Seeing a stack of bottles that had been moved from — well, everywhere.
All of those had been just hiding in my closet?
There were more than 20 empty bottles.
This didn’t count the few that were in the attic or the bag of bottles under the house.
Empty, of course. Once full of bourbon and escape.
The discovery helped explain why I hadn’t exactly been doing much work in terms of recruiting new clients for my policy consulting business.
I had, at that time, one steady client that paid regularly.
And a lot of free time that I ostensibly spent searching for the next “big client.”
That search mainly consisted of sending out a few emails in the morning, pouring a drink, and watching Netflix.
I’d turn the TV off at lunch and do some more “networking” or emailing.
I sometimes found a project — short-term work that paid ok money.
Nothing consistent. No long-term contracts.
