THE "NUMBER ONE OFFENDER"

Good Morning!!! God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; and Wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done. *~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~* April 14, 2024 THE "NUMBER ONE OFFENDER" Resentment is the “number one” offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 64 As I look at myself practicing the Fourth Step, it is easy to gloss over the wrong that I have done, because I can easily see it as a question of “getting even” for a wrong done to me. If I continue to relive my old hurt, it is a resentment and resentment bars the sunlight from my soul. If I continue to relive hurts and hates, I will hurt and hate myself. After years in the dark of resentments, I have found the sunlight. I must let go of resentments; I cannot afford them. ***************************************************** Anger -- Personal and Group Enemy "As the book ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ puts it, ‘Resentment is the Number One offender’. It is a primary cause of relapses into drinking. How well we of A.A. know that for us ‘to drink is eventually to go mad or die’. "Much the same penalty overhangs every A.A. group. Given enough anger, both unity and purpose are lost. Given still more ‘righteous’ indignation, the group can disintegrate; it can actually die. This is why we avoid controversy. This is why we prescribe no punishments for any misbehavior, no matter how grievous. Indeed, no alcoholic can be deprived of his membership for any reason whatever. "Punishment never heals. Only love can heal." LETTER, 1966 ********** Grapevine quote of the day "I am a student of life just trying to learn how the universe works. The most powerful lesson I have learned is that it all happens inside me. My perception of any situation is in my control – I have a choice about which way my mind will react." Pinellas Park, Fla., November 2006 from: "How the Universe Works" AA Grapevine ***************************************************** When I feed on resentments and anger, I am giving someone else rent-free space in my head. --Kathy Kendall