Today's Gift

[evile]

This made me laugh and laugh and laugh. I never, never, EVER have a problem enumerating all of my flaws, mistakes, shortcomings, and defects.

As far as 'never apologize'? In my experience, an apology is me saying 'here is a stick, let me show you the places to hit that will hurt me most,' but sometimes I do it anyway, because I know it's the right thing to do and I know I deserve the beating.

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Today's thought from Hazelden is:

See who you are. Own who you are. Be who you are. Don't apologize.
-- Jerry K.

At some point in our recovery, we need to admit to ourselves and others who we really are. Looking inside and pondering our shortcomings is not the most comfortable thing the program has asked us to do. In the past it's been more comfortable to deny them, to look the other way, to sweep the human error element under the rug.

But the rewards are great. Once we own our shortcomings, once we tell them out loud to another person, we have taken full responsibility for ourselves - who we are, what we are - and how we have acted.

Now we are closer to our Higher Power, who has accepted us all along. Now we can return to the spiritual support that is always available. When we admit who we are to ourselves and others, we are given the gift of self-acceptance and a sense of belonging to the human race.

By opening ourselves this way, we enrich our relationships with our Higher Power, ourselves, and our fellow humans. These relationships bring a new sense of belonging and meaning to our lives.

Today help me tell myself, my Higher Power, and at least one other person who I really am.

You are reading from the book:

Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous

Body, Mind, and Spirit © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden.

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Comments

[made-of-paradox.livejournal.com]

You don't deserve the beating.

Doing the right thing and then being abused as a result really, really sucks.

Now, if the other person is so petty that they take the apology as an opening to abuse you, they should not be taken seriously, at least not at the time of abuse.

If it would help you to pity them as they light into you, go ahead. I don't know that to go so far as to gloat that you're not that sort of git is healthy, but if you need it as a step in the right direction, take it.

(What I've been working on the past week or so, apparently, is not taking things personally when they're not about me. I ran about 75% on that, I think. I'd just like for there to not be another week that intense on that skill for a month or so.)