The fourth step of Adult Children of Alcoholics Anonymous is:

“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”

When we take stock of ourselves, it’s important to be honest and open. We need to see if we’re treating other right and if we’re doing the same with ourselves.

No matter if you want to practice the twelve steps of Adult Children of Alcoholics Anonymous or not, is important as all of us need to reset our compass and see where we’re at in our lives.

We are responsible for reflecting on our actions and need to make certain that we are treating others fairly. When we’re wrong, then we need to admit it, embrace the mistakes that we’ve made, and make restitution for what harm we’ve done to others.

It’s easy to point the finger at our alcoholic parents or the dysfunction that we grew up with and blame others for the things that they’ve done to us, but it’s another thing entirely to look at our own fault and admit them.

For today, take stock and write down a list of how you’ve either caused harm to others or yourself.

The purpose of this step isn’t to beat yourself up about the things you’ve done, but to admit them, grow from them, and move on.

Take the time you need to go through this step and reflect. It’s a difficult step, but a necessary one.

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