Wisdom Of The Rooms - 2016

[bluidkiti]

October 3

Quote of the Week

“Keep the broom on your side of the street.”

It is so easy for me to point my finger and judge. “He’s not open minded enough.” “She should stop telling people what to do.” “He’s driving like a jerk.” “She’s not raising her kids right,” etc. By constantly criticizing and condemning others, it’s also easy to avoid looking at my own behavior. It’s easy for me to become self-righteous, and from that high perch I ultimately find myself disliked and alone. When my big ego isn’t getting the attention it thinks it deserves, it’s easy to get on my pity pot and think poor me, poor me, heck, I should pour myself a drink!

When I entered the program, I was still pointing fingers. “I drank because she didn’t understand me.” “I used because my boss was unreasonable and demanding.” “I’m an alcoholic because my dad was one.” My sponsor showed me that when I was pointing my finger at others, three fingers were pointing back. He encouraged me to work my Fourth Step to see what my part might be in my resentment and judgements, and that’s when my recovery began.

By turning my magic magnifying mind away from others and onto my part, I began to see that I wasn’t as perfect as I thought I was. I soon found that I wasn’t so open minded either. I loved telling people what to do, and I was often the one in back of you honking my horn. My sponsor helped me see that any fault I could spot in others meant that I had the same one in myself. He taught me that by working hard to eliminate my own character defects, I would be able to free myself and others from unkind and unnecessary judgement.
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By doing so, I finally learned the wisdom and benefit of keeping the broom on my side of the street.