Your wife is always “too tired” and is totally fine with you going without her.
Red flag.
Last-minute and pop-up plans are met with a smile and a wistful, “oh well.”
Red flag.
You decide to drive to a club to go out drinking with your buddies.
Red flag.
There are too many options that take your vehicle out of the loop; use them.
You decide to “only drink a couple” and get home.
Red flag.
It’s never just a couple, is it?
A girl asks you about kids on a first date.
BIG red flag.
Waaaaay to early to be talking kids.
Red flags are obvious warning signs we receive that we decide to ignore.
My feet were numb and I ignored the condition because I attributed it to my profession, an Executive French Chef. I was on my feet a minimum of twelve hours a day for six days a week for years.
Red flag.
We just laughed it off at the ninth hole turn on an Oklahoma golf course when we discovered that I had walked the entire front nine with my entire set of keys and keychain in my shoe, and I didn’t feel a thing.
BIG red flag.
I had a major heart attack, requiring eight stents to keep the blood flowing in my body because I ignored a red flag.
I was just walking.
That’s it.
Walking.
I had a very uncharacteristic shortness of breath that I totally blew it off.
I figured I had a problem with drugs and alcohol after my third extreme DUI in thirty days in Las Vegas, Nevada. Through connections with a friend, I was able to be represented by an attorney that serviced the elite: famous entertainers that worked the casinos throughout the city.
I was able to get all charges dropped, but it cost me every cent I had in the bank.
I was also strongly advised to leave town because my numerous felonies being dropped made me an unpopular person to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.
So it was goodbye, Las Vegas.
I made a brief stop at my sister’s house in northwest Ohio where I again, made a dangerous three-peat: three DUI’s in thirty days.
The third and final one came after my second trial was over, with the judge assuring me I was destined for the State Penitentiary in Lima, Ohio if he ever saw me in his courtroom again.
Once again, I was fortunate to retain the hometown golden boy attorney: charismatic and friends with all the judges and clerks where he was fawned over. He got the judge to send me to an alcohol treatment program which required me to spend a weekend watching videos and speaking with fellow alcoholics about our problems.
I carefully thought out every word I said. I had three days to convince the instructors and counselors that there was no need for further treatment. Otherwise they place you in a six-week more intensive outpatient program which I really wanted to avoid.
On the final day of the program, the counselors and instructors did not buy my act at all: the six-week program awaited.
What’s this tell you?
Don’t ignore the red flags in your life.
Stay well.
