June 11 FAMILY OBLIGATIONS

. . . a spiritual life which does not include . . . family
obligations may not be so perfect after all.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 129

I can be doing great in the program—applying it at
meetings, at work, and in service activities—and find that
things have gone to pieces at home. I expect my loved ones
to understand, but they cannot. I expect them to see and
value my progress, but they don't—unless I show them. Do
I neglect their needs and desires for my attention and
concern? When I'm around them, am I irritable or boring?
Are my "amends" a mumbled "Sorry," or do they take the
form of patience and tolerance? Do I preach to them, trying
to reform or "fix" them? Have I ever really cleaned house
with them! "The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to
live it" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83).