February 20 Powerlessness, personal responsibility


"Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities, we were
actually creating our own problems."

Basic Text, p. 13


When we refuse to take responsibility for our lives, we give away all
of our personal power. We need to remember that we are powerless over
our addiction, not our personal behavior.

Many of us have misused the concept of powerlessness to avoid making
decisions or to hold onto things we had outgrown. We have claimed
powerlessness over our own actions. We have blamed others for our
circumstances rather than taking positive action to change those circumstances. If
we continue to avoid responsibility by claiming that we are
"powerless;' we set ourselves up for the same despair and misery we experienced in
our active addiction. The potential for spending our recovery years
feeling like victims is very real.

Instead of living our lives by default, we can learn how to make
responsible choices and take risks. We may make mistakes, but we can learn
from these mistakes. A heightened awareness of ourselves and an increased
willingness to accept personal responsibility gives us the freedom to
change, to make choices, and to grow.


Just for today: My feelings, actions, and choices are mine. I will
accept responsibility for them.

pg. 52