Endigar 779
From Courage to Change of February 16;
In a tornado, you not only have to look out for the tremendous winds, but also whatever the winds pick up and hurl in your direction. Like a tornado, alcoholism often brings along additional problems, including verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, illness, debt, prison, infidelity, and even death. Some of these problems can be so embarrassing that we don’t dare to talk about them. But in Al-Anon, we learn that we are only as sick as our secrets. Until we let them out into the light, they keep us trapped.
Most of us find it best to share our secrets with someone we can trust, someone who understands the disease of alcoholism. No matter how hopeless, different, or ashamed we may feel, there are Al-Anon members who have been through similar crises and are willing to listen and help.
Today’s Reminder
The times I most want to hide out with my secrets are probably the times I most need to reach out and share them with others. When facing a difficult situation, let me remember that my Higher Power speaks through other people. I don’t have to face it alone.
“We move from being at the mercy of any problem that comes along to an inner certainty that no matter what happens in our lives, we will be able to face it, deal with it, and learn from it with the help of our higher Power.”
. . . In All Our Affairs
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For me, the idea that we are only as “sick as our secrets” does not mean that it is wrong to keep some things private. It does not mean I should share inappropriate information, that I should abandon discretion, or that I should not introspect and consider the audience that is privy to my sensitivities.
What it does mean to me is that if I have toxic shame exuding from deeply embedded secrets than these are sick secrets. Their residence within will continue to poison my life. So I must risk trusting another who has no personal connection with my death seed. I cannot hurt another to achieve my own healing. An objective but caring heart can help dislodge the debris of the chaos storms I have endured so that my own psyche can heal. This provides me the opportunity to build a network of trust to replace the seeds of my own destruction.
Daily Reprieve 
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