"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
Ernest Hemingway
I made a lot of promises when I was drunk. Problem is, I cannot remember them all now that I am sober. So I carry alot of guilt around with me for that. Now I still do it for example, telling a neighbor that I am going to bake him something right before the holidays and telling someone I'd call and we could go out for coffee who I really don't want to be with. Even sober, I have the tendency to "forget" those promises and put them off. Although I think my intentions are good, I'm just not mentally "well" enough yet to not let my mouth get me into trouble.
I've never heard this quote before. I like it! But there can be some nice exceptions to it. For example, I spent years sitting on a bar stool in the dreary little corner beer bar telling all my drinking buddies about my plans to travel to distant exotic places, but I never even had gas money to get out of town. After I got sober, I did start traveling, and so far I've been to over 40 countries and I have no plans to slow down. It's been amazing, and one of the highlights of these trips is finding AA meetings in these far-flung places. I'm certainly glad I didn't keep my mouth shut about my crazy travel plans when I was drinking. If I had, I might not have had the nerve to get out there and actually do it
This reminds me of a time over a decade ago when I woke up (came to) and my friend said 'so, you're still coming with me today, right?' I thought 'what? Coming where?' Turns out I had agreed to get my tongue pierced. I followed through on the promise!
