It's amazing how self-righteous we alcoholics can sometimes be. Before recovery many of us acted in destructive, demoralizing and often illegal ways, many times hurting ourselves and others in the process. Rather than being remorseful when confronted with our behaviors, we usually became resentful and acted even more inappropriately. In the end many of us were alone, and the only people who were glad to see us were the people who welcomed us into recovery.
At first it's hard to confront the damage we've done, but after a while many of us do recover the positions and self-respect we had lost. What also returns though is our ego, and sometimes a new sense of entitlement can make us hard to be around again. I have sat and seethed in meetings while people shared how they thought things should be run, all the while harboring my own self-righteous views.
My favorite saying of Bill W's is, "Honesty got me sober and tolerance keeps me that way". When I catch myself feeling mightier than thou, I ask God to remind me of this and to remind me of where I came from. When I do, I'm humbled by the miracle that has taken place in my life, and once again I become right-sized.
I am instantly reminded that we didn't get here because we sang too loud in church.
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Copyright @ 2013 Michael Z
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'