Be not afraid of life

 

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
--William James

Many of us learned as children that rejection and abandonment are part and parcel of being alive. We are so used to feeling as though things won't work out, that fear - like a shadow - is always lurking behind us. Usually there's something specific to be afraid of - that we won't have enough money to pay our bills, someone we love will die, or our children won't do well in school. And always there's the generalized fear that events will overwhelm us in spite of our best efforts.

Feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.”

“Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.”

        

Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.  Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, “You’re worthless!”  Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-esteem very early in our recovery.  Some of us may feel that our feelings of inferiority were where all our problems began.

Whether we learn this low self-esteem in our families or through our interactions with others, in NA,AA,SH we learn the tools for reclaiming ourselves.  Building up our fractured self-esteem sometimes begins by simply accepting a service position.  Or perhaps our phone begins to ring, and for the first time people are calling just to see how we are.  They don’t want anything from us but to reach out and help.

Progress, not perfection

. . . I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.
--Marie Curie

We are looking for progress, not perfection; however, we sometimes get lost or confused between the two. Expecting ourselves to be perfect at something we are only now learning is a familiar affliction. As we accept our humanness, we'll allow the mistakes that are a normal part of the process of living and learning - a process we call progress.