Knowing Yourself

[MajestyJo]

A recent searching and fearless moral inventory of myself (Step Four) gave me a clear message: Much of my behavior was extremely immature. But what is mature behavior? Obviously the answer is different for each of us, but exploring the question can help me to identify my goals and apply the Al-Anon program as I seek to change this behavior. To me, maturity incluces:

Knowing myself

Asking for help when I need it and acting on my own when I don't

Admitting when I'm wrong and making amends

Accepting love from others, even if I'm having a tough time loving myself

Recognizing that I always have choices, and taking responsibility for the ones I make

Seeing that life is a blessing

Having an opinion without insisting that others share it

Forgiving myself and others

Recognizing my shortcomings and my strengths

Having the courage to live one day at a time

Acknowledging that my needs are my responsibility

Caring for people without having to take care of them.

Accepting that I'll never be finished - I'll always be a work-in-progress.

- Courage to Change (Al-Anon)

Today's Reminder:

Today I can spin a little silk and let it grace everything I touch. I don't have to look back to past ugliness except to learn from it, to enhance the present, and to release whatever beauty is trapped behind old secrets and self-defeating attitudes. One day at a time I can delight in the splendid person I am becoming.

"Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing in loveliness...until it flowers again from within..." - Galway Kinnell

originally posted on my site Soundness of Mind