I made a list of my shortcomings. I’ve asked my Higher Power to remove them. And that’s great to start the morning, but when I am in the thick of everyday life, how do I know when the shortcomings are cropping up? Most times, I’m so far down the road of insanity, that by the time I recognize it, I’ve already done harm.
Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
It was one of the main reasons I isolated. I knew eventually I would say or do something that was hurtful. The most logical solution, minus stopping drinking, was to step out of as many situations as possible. The more I limited my interactions, the less I had to apologize for.
And that worked great for a while. But alcoholism gets boring and lonely. With years of wrong-thinking and solitude, jumping back into the people pool was virtually impossible. This, for me, was the definition of being sick and tired of being sick and tired.
That’s when I figured it: my number one shortcoming was not recognizing when my shortcomings were coming. Huh.
My Higher Power isn’t like a parent, bundling me up with a hug and a kiss and sending me out into the world for the day. It’s an ever-present security blanket that I can pull out whenever I need reassurance and comfort. Because each day isn’t a one-and-done, with a good or bad tally at the end of it. It’s a minute-by-minute work in progress.
For today: work it that way.
12 the hard way 