I love the daily readings in the Al-Anon literature. I try to start my days with a reading to help frame my mind and thoughts in the right direction. I'd like to share today's reading.
ODAT page 240
"An interesting exercise, and one well worth a few moments of reflection, would be to consider the exact meaning of the phrase "to take offense."
These words describe an act of willingly taking into ourselves a hurt we feel somebody intended to inflect on us. We take offense. We don't have to take it. We are free to refuse to be hurt by a spiteful remark or malicious action.
So the whole matter really rests with us. The choice of accepting or rejecting an offense is ours alone.
Today's Reminder
It may not be easy at first, but if I keep reminding myself that I will not permit myself to be hurt by what anyone says or does, it can bring about an amazing change in my attitude and disposition.
Whenever I feel I am being hurt by someone, I will silently refuse to take offense or take any action to retaliate. What a relief it will be to have such incidents vanish into thin air, leaving not a mark on me! I will not accept offense. 'What can words do to me unless I take them to heart?'"
Wow, this one really strikes home with me. Part of my insanity was I absorbed EVERYTHING! I would take on the offense every chance I could whether it was directed at me or not. I'm truly amazed at the coping skills I adopted in attempt to survive each day with Alcoholism. Today, I refuse to take the offense to everything occurring around me. I'll be honest, some days I'm more successful than others. Again, reminding myself to be gentle with myself. Also to realize I didn't learn this coping skill overnight and it runs deep within my soul, it's not going to take a New York second to not want to use that insanity. Simply having the choice to refuse to take offense, is simply amazing in its self. I can feel the shift in my disposition when I stopped internalizing the hurt, whether it was directed and me or not. For me it took a lot of willingness to help apply this method into practice.
Have a wonderful Saturday my friends!
ODAT page 240
"An interesting exercise, and one well worth a few moments of reflection, would be to consider the exact meaning of the phrase "to take offense."
These words describe an act of willingly taking into ourselves a hurt we feel somebody intended to inflect on us. We take offense. We don't have to take it. We are free to refuse to be hurt by a spiteful remark or malicious action.
So the whole matter really rests with us. The choice of accepting or rejecting an offense is ours alone.
Today's Reminder
It may not be easy at first, but if I keep reminding myself that I will not permit myself to be hurt by what anyone says or does, it can bring about an amazing change in my attitude and disposition.
Whenever I feel I am being hurt by someone, I will silently refuse to take offense or take any action to retaliate. What a relief it will be to have such incidents vanish into thin air, leaving not a mark on me! I will not accept offense. 'What can words do to me unless I take them to heart?'"
Wow, this one really strikes home with me. Part of my insanity was I absorbed EVERYTHING! I would take on the offense every chance I could whether it was directed at me or not. I'm truly amazed at the coping skills I adopted in attempt to survive each day with Alcoholism. Today, I refuse to take the offense to everything occurring around me. I'll be honest, some days I'm more successful than others. Again, reminding myself to be gentle with myself. Also to realize I didn't learn this coping skill overnight and it runs deep within my soul, it's not going to take a New York second to not want to use that insanity. Simply having the choice to refuse to take offense, is simply amazing in its self. I can feel the shift in my disposition when I stopped internalizing the hurt, whether it was directed and me or not. For me it took a lot of willingness to help apply this method into practice.
Have a wonderful Saturday my friends!
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