[nandm]

Day 5

How we've harmed others.

"We act as though comfort and luxery were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiatic about." Anonymous.

Some of us had startling revelations when we did the exercise in which we evaluated the payoffs we experienced from our character defects. Now, if we look at those defects---this time to assess how they affected others----we'll find that our list of amends will start to grow.

For instance: How did our depressions affect our family, business associates, friends and neighbors? What impact did our lying have on them?

What about unfaithfulness, reckless handling of money, excesses of food and drink, being judgemental, unreasonable expecatation, sexual demands? Indifference? Dependency? Secrecy? Procrastination? Neglecting health problems? Selfishness?

We've tried to convience ourselves that our attitudes and behavior really harmed no one but ourselves. But as we really begin to dig, we find that we've only looked at the tip of the iceberg. The more we probe, the more we realize we have to probe. Since no human being exists in a vacuum, it would be an impossiblity not to affect others by our deeds, our moods and our demands.

Today's Step: In honesty reviewing my character defects, I add to my list of amends.

Step by Step. Muriel Zink