Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought - September

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September 28

Self-Reproach Can Be Deceptive

and is not always a virtue. Criticizing ourselves for wrongful behavior can be constructive if it results in our avoiding its repetition. But sometimes we criticize ourselves for less than sincere reasons, like chastising ourselves before someone else has the opportunity to do so. This is self-protection, not self-correction. Recovery frowns on the pity party, by which we elicit sympathy and ward off criticism from others. The Fifth Step requires a sincere admission. A trained Fifth Step listener can alert us if we are deceiving ourselves with self-reproach.