"We can also use the steps to improve our attitudes. Our best thinking got us into trouble. We recognize the need for change."
Basic Text, p. 55
When new in recovery, most of us had at least one person we just couldn't stand. We thought that person was the rudest, most obnoxious person in the program. We knew there was something we could do, some principle of recovery we could practice to get over the way we felt about this person-but what? We asked our sponsor for guidance. We were probably assured, with an amused smile, that if we just kept coming back, we'd see the person get better That made sense to us. We believed that the steps of NA worked in the lives of everyone. If they could work for us, they could work for this horrible person, too.
Time passed, and at some point we noticed that the person didn't seem as rude or obnoxious as before. In fact, he or she had become downright tolerable, maybe even likeable. We got a pleasant jolt as we realized who had really gotten better. Because we had kept coming back, because we had kept working the steps, our perception of this person had changed. The person who'd plagued us had become "tolerable" because we'd developed some tolerance; he or she had become "likeable" because we'd developed the ability to love.
So who really gets better? We do! As we practice the program, we gain a whole new outlook on those around us by gaining a new outlook on ourselves.
Just for Today: As I get better, so will others. Today, I will practice tolerance and try to love those I meet.
I had a guy go off on me after I chaired a meeting, I think I shared it here, a few days later he made an amends to me and what i kept thinking was how uncomfortable it would be to go to meetings with this guy around and me carrying around a resentment, but that got fixed by him working HIS program, told him I appreciated him working HIS program LOL and was happy for him and his growth and real determination and willingness and I was proud of him, he liked that
-- Edited by BigV on Wednesday 28th of April 2010 09:24:51 AM
