Step Ten

"Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

This is perhaps one of the most difficult of the steps. To recognize our fault, especially after having overcome so much pain and struggle, and acknowledge that we continue to be imperfect... this has been a tall task for many. We must make a regular habit of prioritizing introspective time during our week. To be unwilling to evaluate the self; to lift the nose up, even just a little, is to turn our back on recovery and deny the very effort we made to achieve this level of understanding. It sets us up for lapse, relapse, and failure. We all have defects. Some are little. Some are enormous. But if we can acknowledge our error immediately, we not only save face by being willing to self-evaluate and accept feedback, but we grow exponentially. I like to admit that I hoard opportunities for growth. I want them. No, I don't want to be wrong all the time, but I want it to be pointed out when I am misguided or blind. I want to be able to see more clearly. We must welcome the feedback. Welcome your growth and progress.

Faith and Fear

What is it? I've always felt like my faith was incredibly strong, even unbreakable. If I felt moved to do something, I've rarely had a problem acting. I occasionally wonder where that prompting came from, and once in a while a little doubt creeps in. What is it? Intuition? God? Ego? Fear? Or something else? There are those times, though, that we abandon ship without knowing the reason. We act based on a number of thoughts but don't have a master plan. How frightening this is to me. In a past career experience I witnessed people burn bridges. In looking a little closer, I realized the individual was seeking to avoid being hurt. In order to avoid the pain, the individual irrationally felt compelled to burn the relationship before being abandoned. We fear pain. We fear loss. We are so afraid that we sometimes avoid the most precious and beautiful things in life because we can't imagine having that ripped away. What does it take to beat that fear? At times we might tell ourselves something like... If it doesn't work out, oh well... or... It's good experience... and there's the phrase... Whatever doesn't kill me... Bottom line, I find it easy to tell people how to fix their lives and create a plan of happiness. But sometimes I find it rather difficult to employ those same tactics in my own life. To experience, to hope, to faith, and to building strength and a better you, and a better me.