March 29
One Part of the Day
By bedtime, one sharp exchange can seem to describe the entire day. We forget the work we finished, the call we returned, and the difficulty we handled without passing it along. The unpleasant moment keeps presenting itself as the most honest evidence. Giving any attention to what went well feels suspiciously like making excuses, so we examine the same mistake until there is nothing left to learn from it.
Step Ten makes room for a fuller account. A good action does not cancel a harmful one, but neither does a harmful action erase every good thing. We need accuracy if inventory is to help us live. The apology belongs on the page alongside the kindness we offered freely. Seeing both can make tomorrow more approachable. There is something to correct and something to continue, and neither requires a final judgment about the kind of person we are.
What gets left out when I let one mistake describe my whole day?
The day deserves an honest account of all of it.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Ten, p. 93.