April 17

”We must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.” George Bernard Shaw

The program teaches that we need to be rigorously honest with ourselves. This is a challenging endeavour in a society that seems to live more under the opinion of trying to get away with as much as possible. The idea that we can drive 10-20% over the speed limit and not get a ticket, that we can download pirated music and movies for free, that we can rush to an ATM that is giving out double the request amount in error, all these small ways show how society chooses to ignore honesty as the best policy. Yet as a recovering addict, I can no longer afford the luxury of being deceitful, even in the smallest of occasions. I have spent too many moments of my life inventing ways to cover up all the things that were destroying my life. If I am truly taking the program and the 12 Steps to heart, it also implies taking a look at the 10 commandments, and even older guiding principle on how to live one's live. Religion aside, those 10 phrases require a lot of honesty to maintain, and are centered on the good of others before one's selfish interests. Maybe the world would be a better place if more of us were in a 12-Step fellowship and we could go back to living simpler and more connected lives. I certainly know that I am grateful to be in those rooms with my second lease on life, and a greater understanding of what living truly means. The truth has set me free and I expect it to continue to do so as I progress along my path.

Affirmation I will be honest with myself today, even if it goes against the norms of those around me. It is my own morals, values, and sobriety that are at stake if I short-change myself.