“Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
The Big Book tells us resentment is the number one offender. It takes more alcoholics out than anything else. And it doesn’t take much. We can feel judged and be fighting back in our heads in a matter of seconds.
Fact is, some people judge. That’s not going away. So we’re at a fork in the road—we either forgive them, or we carry it for the rest of our lives. What’s your choice?
Something’s been changing though. Since making that decision to stop running the show in Step Three, things have shifted. Not forced like before. Not fake. Just happening. The smiles are real now, not at someone else’s expense. Feeling more connected. Less judged. Or maybe just less concerned about it.
We’ve been taking care of our alcoholism instead of feeding it. Acting more in line with who we actually are. That constant paranoia, that self-centered noise, it’s been easing up. Slowly, but it’s real.
We’ve had mornings where we wake up and don’t immediately run through everything we said or did the night before. That right there is a break. And things just seem to be working out a little more.
Now we’re looking at the Fourth Step and wondering if it is really necessary. But we already know what it offers—a clean slate.
So is it really necessary… or are we going to carry that load the rest of our lives?
