"Self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles."
— Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62Alcoholism is sometimes called a disease of perception. Around the rooms you'll hear people talk about having a magic magnifying mind. Others simply call it what it is: self-centeredness. Our disease has a way of turning reality into disappointment without us even realizing it. We don't get the job, we're losers. We get laid off, we weren't good enough. A relationship ends, and we're unlovable. The facts rarely matter as much as the story our minds create.The truth is, our egos love a red carpet. We want to feel noticed, appreciated, and important. When life doesn't roll one out for us, our disease whispers that we don't belong. We can end up angry, hurt, or drowning in self-pity over something that may not even be true.That's our cue. We can keep wrestling with those thoughts, or we can ask God, with humility, to remove the shortcomings behind them. The longer we wait, the more our disappointment turns into resentment, anger, sarcasm, coldness, or self-pity. Before long, the people around us begin paying the price for a battle that was never really about them. It's much easier to surrender a shortcoming than it is to clean up the damage it leaves behind.Can you think of a time when you mistook disappointment for rejection? What happened once you saw the situation more clearly?
"Self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles."
— Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
Alcoholism is sometimes called a disease of perception. Around the rooms you'll hear people talk about having a magic magnifying mind. Others simply call it what it is: self-centeredness. Our disease has a way of turning reality into disappointment without us even realizing it. We don't get the job, we're losers. We get laid off, we weren't good enough. A relationship ends, and we're unlovable. The facts rarely matter as much as the story our minds create.
The truth is, our egos love a red carpet. We want to feel noticed, appreciated, and important. When life doesn't roll one out for us, our disease whispers that we don't belong. We can end up angry, hurt, or drowning in self-pity over something that may not even be true.
That's our cue. We can keep wrestling with those thoughts, or we can ask God, with humility, to remove the shortcomings behind them. The longer we wait, the more our disappointment turns into resentment, anger, sarcasm, coldness, or self-pity. Before long, the people around us begin paying the price for a battle that was never really about them. It's much easier to surrender a shortcoming than it is to clean up the damage it leaves behind.
Can you think of a time when you mistook disappointment for rejection? What happened once you saw the situation more clearly?
