We all seem to have one thing in common; no one likes to be wrong. Some more than others, but no one is ever really happy when they are mistaken. And probably the only thing worse than being wrong is being told that we’re wrong. I hope you can see that when this happens, it is just a person’s ego being challenged. It is pride plain and simple. Everyone has this in them to some degree and without an awareness of it, we are powerless over it. Now please know that powerlessness is not weakness. It is just not being able to control something.

When someone reacts and resists this way in personal matters, often it’s because they feel like they are being wrongly attacked. When someone is told that they are wrong they may not just feel bad. They may also believe that they are bad because being told that we are wrong challenges what we believe, and many times identity even comes into question.

A person repeatedly being told that they are wrong questions their knowledge, their beliefs, and truth as they know it. Because of this, many will fight emotionally, and even sometimes physically, to prove that they are right. It really is no exaggeration to say that it scares people when their worldview is in question.

Of course it is perfectly fine, even critical, to ask important questions. To ask real questions that will improve the quality of life for yourself. To find and strip away what is true, and untrue, about the power of the illusion of control. Why? Truth is what will provide the wisdom needed for humility to grow and for the foolish pride that kills a person’s soul to diminish.

Truths are really not too difficult to understand once they are uncovered. The challenge is to discover them. And that is what the 12 Steps are for; discovering truths about the thoughts and actions that block you from goodness and greatness. This blockage is what is making you restless, irritable and discontent.

Your growing dissatisfaction with your old worn out ways of being and your underlying frustration with the day-in day-out grind of “ordinary” life is a clear sign that you’re ready to make this shift and consciously engage in the process of self-actualization. But without a specific way to the see the complete blueprint of what is possible in your life, you will perpetually remain stuck and blocked off from who you were created to be. By doing the 12 Steps you are being prepared to actualize your full potential- which is something that’s really way too difficult to grasp all at once. Certainly not just yet.