[nandm]

Day 6

New Freedom

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." Hellen Keller

If we're doing a spot-check inventory, we must remember to: credit ourselves with the progress we have made, and the ghosts we have exorcised; accept and acknowledge our assets as we put them into action, and practice the technique of "acting as if" that we learned in the Sixth and Seventh Steps as an aid to rising above our shortcomings. For example: If we're afraid, we ask ourselves: "How would I 'act as if' I weren't afraid?" That's it! We act as if we're not afraid.

Once we've laid certain issues to rest, and we know they will no longer come back to haunt us, we experience a surge of freedom and satisfaction with ourselves. We know we have accomplished something major. We begin to feel more confident that we can move freely among our peers without the fear that any minute they will discover our guilty secrets.

Many of us have been in such a blue funk about ourselves for such a long time that we hardly recognize happiness when it's right in front of us. Freedom is certainly a major component of happiness, and we're beginning to experience that feeling more and more.

Today's Step: In my daily assessment, I have the freedom to acknowledge my accomplishments.

Step by Step. Muriel Zink