Some random red head became a sobering reminder, who may very well have saved my marriage.

Yesterday I had a rock star morning. First, an early breakfast with a judge, where we talked about one of my favorite things - mentoring. Then I shot over to the gym and burned through a 60 minute workout.

Photo courtesy of Anais at Flickr.com

Afterward, I stopped at CVS to get a victory bottle of Smart Water. When I got to the register, I already had my nose in my phone answering emails and sending texts for work. I felt so on top of everything. It was awesome. Then a young woman spoke up, and sent my awesome, victory, rock star feelings careening off the tracks.

This is the story of a girl
"How long?" The female cashier said while scanning my water bottle. I looked up from my phone with a puzzled face. She reached out and touched the blue chip that dangled from my key chain, which signified that I'm in recovery. She wanted to know how long I had been sober. She tapped the blue chip and repeated her question, "How long?"

Trying to shift my focus from rock-stardom to her question, I blinked and sort of shook my head, "Oh, uh. I've got four years. But these are my wife's keys. And she's got like ten years." And It wasn't until then that I really looked at her face. She had long red hair pulled back into a bun, with freckles covering her face. And her lips were dry, cracked, and scabbed over.

She dropped her gaze to the water bottle she now clenched in both hands, and quietly said, "I had four years... once." My heart sunk in my chest and I said, "Once?" She looked back at me, held out the water bottle and responded, "Once."

A sobering reminder
Maybe the cashier's story sounds sad, or even heartbreaking. It certainly was for me, but it was also a sobering reminder. You see, having four years of sobriety doesn't mean that I've beaten my addiction. And that cashier was a perfect example of why.

There's a saying among people in recovery that (here's a little secret) is true for everyone. It goes like this, you are capable of everything you've ever done. It's the idea that no matter how far you run from your mistakes, or how much self control you think you have, the things that tempt you are always one step behind you, hoping that you'll let your guard down for just a second.

I don't know what's following lock in step behind you. For me, the temptation is sexual sin, and laziness... and pride. You know what, now that I'm thinking about it, I've got a whole pack of temptations following me. But that's not the point, I'm getting off track.

That cashier became the sobering reminder that changed the course of my day. As you may have read last week, Allison has been in the process of having a miscarriage, which means we haven't had sex in a while (click here to read about that) . That means the distance between temptation and myself is short indeed. That poor red head may have saved my sobriety and my marriage without even realizing it.

So rather than steam through my morning feeling self righteous about my ability to get things done, I got back in my van, thanked God for helping me stay sober, prayed for the girl, and went to work. Because, among all the amazing strategies for dealing with temptation, one of the best is simply being kept aware of it.

Awareness is just one great way to fight temptation, but what about you? What do you do to resist temptation in your life? Please leave your answer in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading,
Tim