Those of us who live in one day at a time recovery will sooner or later realize we sabotage our joy. We also realize we can sabotage other people’s joy. Our nature, our fear, our upbringing, and our environment have a way of conditioning us to be such a way. We longed for acceptance, and at times praise, when deep down we felt unworthy of either. Trust me, there was plenty criticism and exclusion in our lives. Often our joy was sabotaged by others. We felt alone. We couldn’t share in others’ joys. And we felt others wouldn’t share in our joy. We sabotaged our own joy because of this. When in recovery we learned better. We became grateful for others. Some of them them brought us joy. We learned to stop sabotaging joy. Not only our own but others’ too. One day at a time recovery has a way of doing this for us. It’s not always easy and at times we catch ourselves stumbling back into a sabotage frame of mind. Life has a way of doing this to us. But we are learning and we are growing. We are becoming less critical. Gratitude has a way of doing this to us.
