janbear
08-14-2007, 05:52 PM
"Live and Let Live"
The old saying "Live and Let Live" seems so commonplace, it is easy to overlook its value. Of course, one reason it has been said over and over for years is that it has proved beneficial in so many ways.
To begin to put the concept of "Live and Let Live" into practice, we must face this fact: there are people in A.A., and everywhere else, who sometimes say things we disagree with, or do things we don't like. Learning to live with differences is essential to our comfort.
In fact, in A.A. much emphasis is placed on learning how to tolerate other people's behaviour. However offensive or distasteful it may seem to us, it is certainly not worth drinking about. Our own recovery is too important. Alcoholism can and does kill, we recall.
We have learned it pays to make a very special effort to try to understand other people, especially anyone who rubs us the wrong way. For our recovery, it is more important to understand than to be understood. This is not very difficult if we bear in mind that the other A.A. members too, are trying to understand, just as we are.
When we spend time with people we like, we are less annoyed by those we don't particularly care for. As time goes on, we find we are not afraid simply to walk away from people who irritate us, instead of meekly letting them get under our skin, or instead of trying to straighten them out just so they will suit us better.
Live! Be concerned with your own living.
From: Living Sober
The old saying "Live and Let Live" seems so commonplace, it is easy to overlook its value. Of course, one reason it has been said over and over for years is that it has proved beneficial in so many ways.
To begin to put the concept of "Live and Let Live" into practice, we must face this fact: there are people in A.A., and everywhere else, who sometimes say things we disagree with, or do things we don't like. Learning to live with differences is essential to our comfort.
In fact, in A.A. much emphasis is placed on learning how to tolerate other people's behaviour. However offensive or distasteful it may seem to us, it is certainly not worth drinking about. Our own recovery is too important. Alcoholism can and does kill, we recall.
We have learned it pays to make a very special effort to try to understand other people, especially anyone who rubs us the wrong way. For our recovery, it is more important to understand than to be understood. This is not very difficult if we bear in mind that the other A.A. members too, are trying to understand, just as we are.
When we spend time with people we like, we are less annoyed by those we don't particularly care for. As time goes on, we find we are not afraid simply to walk away from people who irritate us, instead of meekly letting them get under our skin, or instead of trying to straighten them out just so they will suit us better.
Live! Be concerned with your own living.
From: Living Sober