<\/p>\n
The steps help us improve our ability to be honest with ourselves and others.<\/strong><\/p>\n Living Clean, Chapter 1, \u201cGrowing Pains\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n To say that honesty wasn't a top priority when we used it might be an understatement. We gain a new awareness of the value of honesty once we get clean. With a clear mind and a restored conscience, we find that dishonesty comes at a price. Regrets are no joke, so we try to avoid them. Being honest with ourselves can be a bit more complicated. Self-deception creates some pretty big dead spots that have a nasty habit of resurfacing. Fortunately, our ability to be honest with ourselves deepens as we work the Twelve Steps.<\/p>\n We admit our powerlessness and begin to realize our ungovernability. We come to recognize that, frankly, we are lost on our own and decide to accept some help. The action that follows this decision begins with an honest assessment of how we have lived our lives thus far. Sometimes we get as many awakenings from sharing our inventories as we do from writing them. We continue to dig a little deeper, examining how aspects of our character had become out of proportion to their purpose. We hand over this bag of dirty tricks to a Higher Power \u2013 and again and again and again as we try to become better people with the help of that Power, whatever we perceive it to be. By taking another look at the harm we have caused, we make a sincere effort to right the wrongs of the past.<\/p>\n Continuing on this path requires daily commitment, and frankly, we all slack off from time to time. Our experience with the Steps means that we recognize more quickly when old ways of thinking and behaving come back to haunt us. Oh, I'm doing it again. We may find that we have shut down emotionally, withdrawn from our spiritual life, resumed a hurtful inner monologue, or adopted some other outdated outlook on life. We put in the work to restore wholehearted honesty in our lives and relationships, including those with ourselves and with a Higher Power. We focus on reality, on truth, on our higher self. And we help others do the same \u2013 live and flourish through the daily application of spiritual principles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today I will do an honest self-criticism. I will strengthen my foundation and restore my appetite to learn how to live.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-11575","spad","type-spad","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.na-greece.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spad\/11575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.na-greece.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spad"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.na-greece.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/spad"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.na-greece.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}