Tell the truth
“A symptom of our disease is alienation, and honest sharing will free us to recover”
Basic Text, p.80
Truth connects us to life while fear, isolation, and dishonesty alienate us from it. As
using addicts, we hid as much of the truth about ourselves from as much of the
world as we possibly could. Our fear kept us from opening ourselves up to those
around us, providing protection against what others might do if we appeared
vulnerable. But our fear also kept us from connecting with our world. We lived like
alien beings on our own planet, always alone and getting lonelier by the minute.
The twelve Steps and the fellowship of recovering addicts give people like us a place
where we can feel safe telling the truth about ourselves. We are able to honestly
admit our frustrating, humbling powerlessness over addiction because we meet
many others who’ve been in the same situation-we’re safe among them. And we
keep on telling more of the truth about ourselves as we continue to work the steps.
The more we do, the more truly connected we feel to the world around us.
Today, we need not hide from the reality of our relations with the people, places, and
things in our lives. We accept those relationships just as they are, and we own our
part in them. We take time every day to ask, “Am I telling the truth about myself?”
Each time we do this, we draw that much further away from the alienation that
characterizes our addiction, and that much closer to the freedom recovery can bring
us.
Just for today: Truth is my connection to reality. Today, I will take time to ask
myself, “Am I telling the truth?”