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 reviewed my day with blame and guilt. I thought recovery was only about confronting what was wrong. But 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.A balanced inventory asks me to give up the habit of treating faults as the only facts that count. 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.
Practice
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.
Today’s Reminder
An true look at my inventory must also include the positive.
