Monday, September 16, 2024

Sept. 16, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Sept. 16, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Lying is done with words, and also with silence.

-- Adrienne Rich

Most of us are fundamentally honest people who would not deliberately tell an untruth. But there are circumstances when we may fear to say all that we need to. In relationships, for example, we may allow confusion, discomfort or resentment to build in ourselves or in a partner because of something we have left unsaid. We may assume that our feelings and wishes are known -- or think that they somehow ought to be -- when we haven’t spoken them aloud.

Whatever the context of a particular relationship -- romance, friendship, sponsorship, work -- we must never assume that others can read our minds. They cannot, any more than we know what they want, need, or believe if they have not said so. We needn't assume that we will look bad if we reveal our ignorance; in fact, we sometimes must be willing to keep asking questions until we understand a situation.

Today, I have the courage to communicate my needs and wants and to ask questions of others.

Hazelden Foundation

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