[Leed]

Days of Healing, Days of Joy.................................................Nov. 17th

"An excuse is a lie guarded"...............................Jonathan Swift

Delusion is the blindfold we wear to our own execution. We can spend too much of our lives rationalizing irresponsible behavior and making alibis. For some of us delusion has become a habit. Making excuses for our negative behaviors has too often become second nature.

Like a bad penny, delusion will keep popping up. We need to watch out for it, to be alert to thoughts such as these: 'Maybe I just drank because of all the problems I had then. Those problems are gone now - I bet I could try it again." Or how about this: "We've both changed, Maybe I was too hard on him. Maybe he won't be abusive this time. I think I've learned to handle him better."

The blindness of delusion has cost us too much already. We need to be on guard. The more we practice making healthy decisions the more we will learn to trust our intuition, take risks, and leave unhealthy relationships and patterns behind. Bad habits are all we have to lose.
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I can guard against self-delusion and be honest with myself and others.

Ohhh delusion. I think I could write a book about that. I rationalized things to the point that I actually believe them. And the alibis and lies I told to secrete the amount I was drinking still astounds me.

As the reading says, today I still have to "practice" making healthy decisions. It doesn't always come automatically. There are still times I don't trust my decision making ability, so I have to rely on my 'gut" instincts. I don't always know immediately. So we do need to be "on guard." God bless.