Daily Reflection

OCTOBER 11
SELF-RESTRAINT
Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 91
My drive to work provides me with an opportunity for selfexamination.
One day while making this trip, I began to
review my progress in sobriety, and was not happy with
what I saw. I hoped that, as the work day progressed, I
would forget these troublesome thoughts, but as one
disappointment after another kept coming, my discontent
only increased, and the pressures within me kept mounting.
I retreated to an isolated table in the lounge, and asked
myself how I could make the most of the rest of the day. In
the past, when things went wrong, I instinctively wanted to
fight back. But during the short time I had been trying to
five the A.A. program I had learned to step back and take a
look at myself. I recognized that, although I was not the
person I wanted to be, I had learned to not react in my old
ways. Those old patterns of behavior only brought sorrow
and hurt, to me and to others. I returned to my work station,
determined to make the day a productive one, thanking
God for the chance to make progress that day.