Bill The Tax Guy

So we went to a tax guy because of our tax situation.  $23,000 in tax due will drive the most parsimonious of us to a tax guy.  He marinated our taxes and reduced the bill to $2,800.  I told him that if it weren't for the CoVid-19 pandemic both SuperK and I would give him a big kiss.  He was unresponsive.  Not rude, just unresponsive.  I guess I should have expected that kind of response from a tax guy.  They're not famous for their silly, whimsical senses of humor.  Plus, as we were sitting in the lobby waiting for him to get off the phone we could overhear his conversation and it was clear that he was very diplomatically and calmly dealing with an incensed client.  SuperK pointed out that being a tax guy a month before taxes are due is probably not the gentlest thing you could be doing.  And it's kind of funny that a tax due bill of $2,800 - normally an amount that would incense me - will be a sheer delight to pay.  

The lesson for me is how I handled quite a bit of fear about the original sum.  Not enough fear to actually do something about it for 6 weeks but still a bunch.  When I'm afraid it's usually because I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing or I'm not doing something I should be doing.  Usually I'm racing headlong into the future when I should be sitting calmly.  Here's a case where I should have been on the move and I was sitting . . . well, not calmly.  I knew this intellectually but I still didn't act on it.  So I suffered.

"Of necessity there will have to be discussion of matters medical, psychiatric, social, and religious.  We are aware that these matters are, from their very nature, controversial.  Nothing would please us so much as to write a book which would contain no basis for contention or argument."  Big Book P. 19

"Be quick to see where religious people are right.  Make use of what they offer."  Big Book P. 87

How about be quick to see where anyone but myself is right.  How about trying that?

Reminds me of this guy I met once at a meeting.  He was missing most of his upper front teeth and he was dressed in work clothes - raggedy work clothes.  I was newish in my sobriety and still quick to categorize people and dismiss those who weren't up to my high standards.  He ended up being a good friend.  Dude read more than I did and I read a lot.  He had a nice, clear recovery message and he did a lot of service work.  He was just one of those guys who did not care what anyone thought of him.  He wanted to live life his own way.

I ran into him after an absence of a few years.  He had gotten his teeth fixed.  He looked pretty good with front teeth.  He was still reading more that I was.

People that have some long-term sobriety and are still working hard on their recovery have a glow.  You can just feel the serenity radiating off of them.  There's a sense that they're comfortable in their own skin, that they're not taking life too seriously, that they'll appreciate the blessings and deal with the hardships.  Conversely, if you're not taking your recovery seriously you're not fooling anyone.