After a telephone conversation yesterday with a family member, I found myself feeling irritated, confused, and just plain hurt. It seems to be the attitude my family has toward me is one of (at least in my mind anyway) indifference. I had to remember that I, though many years of alcoholic behavior, have left these people with this attitude toward me. ... Big Book page 62 "Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed in a position to be hurt.
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of SELF-WILL RUN RIOT, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it will kill us. God makes this possible."
