It’s easy to fool other people. Fooling yourself is a little harder. Fooling God is impossible.
The question often arises in the Program why “so and so” relapsed after some time in recovery. Frequently the answer is dishonesty. Most of us agree that before we came into Alcoholics Anonymous, we hid behind a mask and didn’t really let anyone know us. Since coming into the Program, some of us hide behind the dreaded “Recovery Mask.”
When we are wearing the Recovery Mask, we deceive others into believing that we’re doing well in recovery. The real danger lies in deceiving ourselves into believing the same thing. One thing this false image can’t live with is truth. It would be helpful for us to ask ourselves, “When was the last time we shared what was really going on inside us, in our innermost world, with somebody, our sponsor, or our home group?”
It does us harm to hide behind a recovery mask. If we do, we may relapse because we’re not sharing our experience, strength, and hope……but only our opinions, attitudes, and advice.
I find in my own experience, when I lie to myself is also when the self sabatoge comes in. It’s where I’ve tried to cope with what isn’t working in my life for me instead of changing myself or my situation. I have tried to bury it at times but when it comes out much later than it should have, it’s bigger and uglier. I’ve been working really hard to shift that this past year but I am still a work in progress. Thanks for the post, great reminder this morning on many things!
A group member posted it randomly on our WhatsApp group this morning I found it helpful and thought I would share. I opened up to them about a few things on my mind then she posted this:
"Mahatma Ghandhi said, “I will not allow anyone to walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
I don’t claim to be anything at all like Ghandhi but, I was also unwilling to allow anyone to walk through my mind and leave their muddy footprints.
Taking a step back and pausing allows me to put it all into perspective.
If I react by taking it personally, I would be allowing another person to determine my state of mind. Remembering that another person’s actions have nothing to do with me, helps me to stay rooted in my own center as opposed to being yanked this way and that because of someone else’s choices."
Since @CaptAZ quoted my other favorite line, I kept it just to this one quote but this is GOOD stuff!!! Have you ever read the 4 agreements? This is covered in there, not taking anything personally was a HUGE stepping stone in letting beliefs go that do not serve me. This has also been momumental in alleviating my mental view of my “suffering”, excellent post my friend.
