After working Al-Anon's Twelve Steps zealously for over a year, I was despondent over my continuing lapses into self-pity and resentment overt the alcoholics inability to give me the emotional support I wanted. One evening during a meditation on the Sixth and Seventh Steps, three words seemed to flash in my mind: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character, and we "humbly asked Him" to remove our shortcomings.
I suddenly realized that much of my zealous working of the program had been the exercise of my own limited power. With a new and sincere humility, I asked God to remove my shortcomings. When I saw the alcoholic the next morning, it was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes. I saw her suffering, struggling to stay sober, and I had compassion for my own struggle as well. My self-pity and resentment we're gone.
Today's Reminder
I want to be ready for shortcomings to be removed, and I will do what I can to prepare. I can develop a nonjudgmental awareness of myself, accept what I discover, and be fully willing to change. But I lack the power to heal myself. Only my Higher Power can do that.
"I accept the fact that I need help in being restored to sanity, and I cannot achieve this without help."
~The Dilemma of the Alcoholic Marriage