One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:
What wonderful things could happen in my life if I could get rid of my natural impulse to justify my actions! Is honesty so deeply repressed under layers of guilt that I cannot release it to understand my motives? Being honest with ourselves isn’t easy. It is difficult to search out why I had this or that impulse, and why I acted upon it. Nothing makes us feel so vulnerable as to give up the crutch of The Alibi.
Yet I know that self-deception multiplies my problems. How shall I correct this?
Today’s Reminder:
I will pick out just one character defect I can freely admit, and reason it away, right out of my whole being. Let’s say I analyze my impulse to resent. If I convince myself of its futility, I will see unexpected, welcome changes in my experience.
I will examine my real reasons for every decision I make that involves taking action. If this shows me I am deceiving myself as to my true motives, I will try to correct this self-deception at its source.
“We know well enough how to excuse and color our own doings, but we find it difficult to accept those of others.”