Ann

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go

Freedom from Self-Seeking

Please free my thinking of self-will, self-seeking, dishonesty, and wrong motives.
—paraphrased from Alcoholics Anonymous

There is a difference between owning our power to take care of ourselves, as part of God's will for our life, and self-will. There is a difference between self-care and self-seeking. And our behaviors are not as much subject to criticism as are the motives underlying them.

There is a harmonic, gentle, timely feeling to owning our power, to self-care, and to acts with healthy motives that are not present in self-will and self-seeking. We will learn discernment. But we will not always know the difference. Sometimes, we will feel guilty and anxious with no need. We may be surprised at the loving way God wants us to treat ourselves. We can trust that self-care is always appropriate. We want to be free of self-will and self-seeking, but we are always free to take care of ourselves.

God, please guide my motives today, and keep me on Your path. Help me love myself, and others too. Help me understand that more often than not, those two ideas are connected.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

Neagrm

I find it always comes down to checking my motives before I know if a choice/decision is for the best. The reason I make a decision is as important or moreso than the decision. When my motive is clear, it often seems things fall into place easily. When I'm confused I need more time for clarity to come.

It's the absence of clarity in my motivation that causes me the most uncertainty/angst. Sometimes there is time to explore the options, but sometimes it requires a leap of faith and trust; I do the best I can and let go and let HP.

My goal in working the steps and principles daily is to be clear on my part. It's equivalent to peace and serenity.

Nea