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One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:

How great is the human need for a scapegoat, someone or something to blame for our disappointments. “If she hadn’t done that, this wouldn’t have happened.” – “Why couldn’t he have done what I expected?”– “It’s all her fault!”

I must realize that every time I feel someone has offended or injured me, at least part of my unhappiness is due to the way I reacted. Actually I am not so vulnerable to being hurt, by circumstances or the actions of other people, as I think I am. Much that happens to me, good or bad, is self-created.

Today’s Reminder:

If I am convinced that I am to a large extent “the captain of my soul” I can more readily accept the fact that I have the power to ward off misfortunes, disappointments and other troubles. Blaming others for what happens to me would keep me at a spiritual standstill.

“Nothing can work damage to me except myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me and never I am a real sufferer except by my own fault.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, quoting St.Bernard, in the Essay on Compensation

From the book “One Day at a Time in Al-Anon”. © Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. 1973