The Balance of the Positive
Just as it was in Step Four, it is very important to include in any inventory the things we did well in addition to the mistakes we may have made.
When I first started doing inventory, I focused exclusively on my faults—my fears, my judgments, my slips. I thought recovery was only about confronting what was wrong. This quickly led to discouragement and self-criticism. Step Ten, like Step Four before it, requires balance. It is very important to include the things I did well.
This isn't vanity; it's factual accounting. Noting my successes—where I spoke kindly, where I detached, where I trusted my Higher Power—shows me evidence that the program is working. It reinforces the new behaviors and gives me the strength to face the defects. The cost of this balance is letting go of the comfort of martyrdom; the payoff is a realistic view of my own spiritual progress. My inventory must be a mirror that shows the whole truth, light and shadow alike.
At the end of the day, I will write down three specific moments when I consciously used a program tool well (e.g., 'I did not interrupt my spouse,' 'I practiced detachment'). I will acknowledge the strength it took to do so.
