Be Good to Myself

In my family, I've talked about this before, if you ask us, we have two stories...one is the truth and the other is the cleaned-up version with a little truth sprinkled in it to make it pleasing, palatable.   Kind of like The Landmark Forum teaching to recognize:  Gotta Look Good, Avoid Looking Bad...at all costs.  At the expense of The True Self, a huge cost.

After doing this for years and in efforts to quit doing the double-story behavior, the 12 Steps help stop, stay stopped, recover and heal...so the
True Self can emerge, blossom, flourish in the Sunlight of the Spirit.

Day by Day, "Lord, help me use the qualities I have for YOUR purposes lest I should lose them from misuse."  Refers to what good is happiness becoming complacency, reason becoming dull from lack of use, virtue vanishing from lack of love, justice becoming lost if we moralize and judge, sobriety and cleanness if we don't carry the message and stay straight?  (Paraphrased)

Daily Reflections, p.188, "If I had had to hang on to nothing but hope and a desire to drink, experiencing rejection wherever I went, I would have sought the easier, softer way and returned to my previous way of life."

One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, p.180, "Be good to yourself"...the joyous experience of letting go of a problem---the lovely adventure of shrugging off "hurts"....If I'm always ready to take offense and be hurt, I'm selling my contentment very cheaply.  I must remember to be good to myself!"

Courage to Change, p.180, "my behavior is a reflection of me, and I owe it to myself to pay attention to what it has to tell me.  I have to take care of myself...My life is too important to waste waiting for someone else's choices, even when it's someone I dearly love...the time to put energy into my own recovery is right now."  A quote from ...In All Our Affairs, "...focus my attention on what I could do about my situation, instead of concentrating all my attention on what I thought the alcoholic should do.  I was the one who had to take a stand."

Hope for Today, p.180, "It felt strange...a place not governed by cruel dictators who gave harsh commands...."Keep it simple" and "Easy Does It"...like entering a new and different world where I was taught to love myself and to treat myself with dignity and respect...learned by watching...treat themselves---and me---with love, dignity, and respect...I can work my program at the speed and to the degree that suits my needs at any given time...Bullying myself into recovery won't work.  Loving myself into it will,"  A quote from How Al-Anon Works, p.68, "...While 'hard' doesn't do it, 'easy' often does."  (NOTE:  In AA I've heard we're to take it easy on others and hard on ourselves while in Al-Anon we're encouraged to take it easy on ourselves and others, stop beating ourselves up or others.)

As We Understood..., p.236, "In the past, the goodness of life was dimly perceived, but now I see its goodness clearly and life itself has been restored to me with great vitality and beauty."

Dear Sweet Lord GO Almighty Creator Great Spirit in All Creation, Your Magnificence astounds and saturates all YOUR works, how glorious YOU are.  YOU are The One, The Source, The Greatest, Most High.  Thank YOU for the Precious gift of Life, Love, Health and Happiness.  May we enjoy the bounty of the blessings YOU shower on us all.  Please help me, Lord, this day to be of maximum service to YOU and my brothers and sisters in the Spirit.  Please give me knowledge of YOUR Will and the courage, strength, wisdom and the Willingness to ACCEPT and DO It.  As YOU Will.  Love, Carol xoxox