SELF--RESTRAINT

          Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint.
          TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 91

          My drive to work provides me with an opportunity for self-examination.
          One day while making this trip, I began to review my progress in
          sobriety, and was not happy with what I saw. I hoped that, as the
          work day progressed, I would forget these troublesome thoughts,
          but as one disappointment after another kept coming, my discontent
          only increased, and the pressures within me kept mounting. I
          retreated to an isolated table in the lounge, and asked myself
          how I could make the most of the rest of the day. In the past,
          when things went wrong, I instinctively wanted to fight back.
          But during the short time I had been trying to live the A.A.
          program I had learned to step back and take a look at myself.
          I recognized that, although I was not the person I wanted to be,
          I had learned to not react in my old ways. Those old patterns of
          behavior only brought sorrow and hurt, to me and to others. I
          returned to my work station, determined to make the day a
          productive one, thanking God for the chance to make progress
          that day.