• Ken L posted an update in the group Group logo of CommunityCommunity 3 years, 7 months ago

    AUGUST 15 Reflection for the Day

    It’s often said that you can’t tell a book by its cover. For many of us, our “covers” or surface records haven’t looked all that bad; it seemed at first, that making an inventory would be “a breeze.” As we proceeded, we were dismayed to discover that our “covers” were relatively blemish-free only because we’d deeply buried our defects beneath layers of self-deception. For that reason, self-searching can be a long-term process; it must go on for as long as we remain blind to the flaws that ambushed us into addiction and misery.

    Will I try to face myself as I am, correcting whatever is keeping me from being the person I want to be?

    Today I Pray

    May God aid me in my soul-searching, because I have hidden many of my faults neatly from friends, family, and especially myself. If I feel “more sinned against, than sinning,” may I take it as a clue that I need to dig deeper for the real me.

    Today I Will Remember

    Taking stock of myself is buying stock in my future.

    AUGUST 16 Reflection for the Day

    Inventory-taking isn’t always done in red ink. It’s a rare day when we haven’t done something right. As I uncover and face my shortcomings, my many good qualities will be revealed to me also, reminding me that they have the same reality as my faults. Even when we’ve tried hard and failed, for instance, we can chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. I’ll try to appreciate my good qualities, because they not only offset the faults, but give me a foundation on which to grow. It’s just as self-deceptive to discount what’s good in us as to justify what is not.

    Can I take comfort in my positive qualities, accepting myself as a friend?

    Today I Pray

    If I find only defects when I look in that Fourth Step mirror, may I be sure that I am missing something – namely my good points. Although my ultra-modesty may be approved socially, may I learn that it is just as dishonest as rationalizing away my faults. Even an out-and-out failure, if examined from all sides, may turn up a plus along with the obvious minuses.

    Today I Will Remember

    To give myself, if not an A for effort, at least an average B minus.