THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 8/1/09

Daily Reflections

GETTING WELL, p.239

Very deep, sometimes quite forgotten, damaging emotional
conflicts persist below the level of consciousness.
12 & 12, pp. 79-80


Only through positive action can we remove the remains of guilt and
shame brought on by our addiction. Throughout our misadventures how many times did friends and family say, "Why are you doing this? You're only hurting yourself."

Little did we know how true were those words. Although we harmed others, some of our behavior caused grave wounds to our own soul. It was only when we got sober that we realized the damaged that was done to our spirit.

We need to find a way of forgiving ourselves. We can't change the past, but we can move forward and work on our future as a sober member of society.

Apologizing to those we hurt or by making amends in some way to those relationship we have destroyed. We must find a way to try and right the wrong we inflicted upon our loved ones. Some may accept our apology wholeheartedly, some may say they accept it, but still don't believe our willingness to change......and in some ways, we can't blame them. How many times did we promise before only to break that promise? But in order to "move on" to the next level of forgiving ourselves, we must make the effort.

Once we have done that, we can move on to forgiving ourselves and I think this is the one thing we have the hardest problem with. We know the depths that we sunk to in our addiction and we feel shame and regret. Those are natural feelings and the fact that we are even feeling them at all is a wonderful sign! We, the ones who would do anything to keep from feeling uncomfortable feelings, are actually allowing ourselves to feel them! It is a painful but necessary step towards recovery when we allow ourselves to work through the guilt.

So today, try to work on forgiving ourselves! Honestly and wholly forgive ourselves. Once we can finally forgive ourselves and move on can we truly find happiness. The old saying that you can't love others if you don't love yourself is so true, CORNY yes......but so true!

Have a great weekend!


RuthAnn