Courage to Change:
In the past, whenever anyone disagreed with me I took it as a personal failure. If only I had found the right words, clothes, opinions, school, job, home, friends, or lover, I could have belonged.
And how did others appear to me? Happy and self-confident—they seemed to have all the answers. But because of the front I put on, people thought I was easy-going and happy, too. If they could be so mistaken about the way I really felt, couldn’t I have a few wrong ideas about their feelings? After all, I couldn’t be the only one who put on a good act. Wasn’t I comparing my insides to other people’s outsides?
In Al-Anon I am learning that someone can disagree with me without either of us being wrong. When no one has to be wrong, we can all fit in, just as we are.
Today’s Reminder:
If I compare, I lose. Maybe I’ll come out feeling better than somebody this time, but next time I’m bound to feel worse. The best way to stop feeling that I’m not good enough is to stop comparing altogether.
“Little by little, we come to realize at our meetings that much of our discomfort comes from our attitudes.” – Understanding Ourselves and Alcoholism