At the stages we understand that our inner compass has become damaged.

When we make decisions to try to take perfect care of ourselves, we become lost,frozen because at this stage our inner compass has become damaged. Our decisions, to the degree that we are traumatised, become faulty. And what’s worse, we will FEEL as if we are actually taking care of ourselves.

We will at this stage defend our actions to the hilt, but our decisions are bad and end up only hurting ourselves worse. This happens in a myriad of ways, including through sex, food, drugs, personal hygiene, relationships, romance, money, and even through seeking help in the helping profession. We trust people who are not to be trusted, because at a deep level we cannot trust ourselves.

And the longer we go without healing our traumas, the more our problems in self-care compound. Our lives become more and more damaged and more and more off-course. Our bodies, Our relationships, and our very connections with ourselves get more and more broken. Our very decisions only end up traumatising ourselves worse. This is the tragedy that pays out a dividend of more tragedy and locks into the very heart of addiction.

None of this is a great mystery. We all hear stories of people who have been severely wounded in childhood who end up living the most hurt, suffering-filled adult lives.The difference for us is that we have a solution in the Stages Study Course that directly challenges and gently heals our predicaments.Related articles

• Ego always seeks death. Recovery always seeks life.
• We make our painful sacrifices on our inward path to discover our truth in recovery
• we will FEEL as if we are actually taking care of ourselves.
• Acting out always catches up with the actor.
• The Stages seeks a solution that moves us beyond his or her "painful inner dialogue." and out into the clear blue waters of recovery.
• So if we give up the doing escaping from that is pointless, we will automatically start healing.