Give yourself a break

[kj3880]

Here's another off Missy's topic-list. I've heard lots of people beating up on themselves lately, even here. So:

Give yourself a break!

What would that mean to you?
Love,
KJ

[Missybuns]

To me it means if I am still using....to stop long enough to read the NA Basic Text

[Sugah]

Amen, Missy.

This is a very nice follow up to "trust the process." Or "give yourself a break and trust the process."

In my own experience and in the experience of working with others, patience seems to be a big issue in early recovery. We want to be further along than we are. We want to jump ahead, fifteen minutes clean, and start making amends--long before we've done a thorough inventory and sorted out our motives. Or later in recovery, having a character defect, maybe even one we'd thought was long gone, rise up and screw up a day. We kick ourselves. Aren't we supposed to be better now??

I do it. I'll feel a surge of anger--and in a few breaths, I'm beating myself up for being angry. There's a process for dealing with it--prayer, inventory, more prayer, talking with a sponsor or another person in recovery--and acceptance that it's okay not to be perfect. I can give myself a break. Last I checked, I'm pretty far down on the list for a halo.

And the really cool part of giving ourselves a break and trusting the process (gee, I can't separate the two now!) is that, if we're transparent about it, we can let someone else see how we do it. You know...be a good example.

Another great topic.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[REZ]

Don't be too hard on yourself. Progress not perfection.

[Gmoney]

Yeah...what they said.

[Wolfchild]

For me, it means giving myself the freedom to make a practical choice. It means taking a few moments and asking for God to reveal what my eyes cannot see. It means relying on a power greater than myself to provide me with understanding. It means reminding myself that my way of doing something is not the only way to do it. It means letting go of my will and my life. It means that i do not have to know every little detail of living life on life's terms.