Regaining Trust With The Family

In early recovery most of us fall victim to the delusion that sobriety is enough to repair the damage caused by our alcoholism or addiction. We may believe that our family, spouses, friends or bosses should extend immediate trust based on our early efforts. However, trust can only be truly be restored by consistent action taken over time. Many of us may experience a myriad of questions, doubts and lack of trust well into our first few years of sobriety. The Big Book reminds us that when we begin to amend our relationships, that it is our job to take the lead and uses the example of a tornado roaring its way through the lives of others.  It was our decisions and behavior patterns that have resulted in broken relationships and our responsibility to repair them.  We use the spiritual principles of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love. In time, those relationships will be renewed and rebuilt in a way that we could not have conceived.