Being honest About Who I Am and How I Feel

Most of my acting out before I came to S-Anon was really acting in. I sometimes seemed more “sober” then because I was so out of touch with my emotions. Sometimes I still don’t want to appear vulnerable and would like others to think I am “just fine,” when I am most emphatically not “just fine.” I am learning that it’s not necessarily a slip or a bad thing to be angry, fearful or whatever. It’s okay for me to feel and acknowledge my emotions, and I didn’t used to know that. To be sober, though, I need to dig a little deeper, beneath the disturbing emotions, examine the reasons why I am hurt or fearful, and become willing to surrender those attitudes or areas of my life to my Higher Power for healing. For me, this is the process of  “staying sober.”

Reprinted from Working the S-Anon Program, 2nd Edition, page 56.