There is not one person in this world that can attest to being perfect which is what adds so much diversity to everyday life. Making mistakes and oversights are what is needed for personal growth but holding onto character defects to hurt others and yourself is rather appalling. When these faults are responsible for suffering of any kind there may be a cause for sincere concern.
In the recovery world, character defects are the flaws, shortcomings, or deficiencies that will continue to make you abuse drugs and alcohol while you silently suffer or take your pain out on someone else. Some of the more common character defects can cause complete chaos in your life.
- Dishonesty
- Close mindedness
- Perfectionism
- Codependency
- Unwillingness
- Pride
- Frivolous
- Inconsiderate
- Jealousy
- Lustfulness
- Selfishness
- Self-pity
- Vanity
- Egotism
You can continue to add anything to the list that will keep you from having the emotional sobriety that you need to stay sober. Harboring these character defects can make the difference between recovery and relapse. To understand what makes you thrive in recovery you will have to get a grasp on what makes you tick like a time bomb, especially in sobriety. The 12 Steps are a great tool to present you with what your patterns are amidst your resentments, fears, and relationships to finally expose to you what your character defects are.
Once you recognize what has impaired you in your addiction, you can disperse of the errors of your ways in your recovery. There is a freedom that comes with letting go of the negativiness that you may have unconsciously been wearing like a badge of honor without the knowledge of what your character defects really reveal about you.
By using the philosophy of turning lemons into lemonade, you can take each character defect from a stumbling block and turn it into something that can bless you. Sounds contradictory to think of something so unfavorable as becoming an asset, however, letting character defects go for good really works with some serious effort so that you can finally use them for good.
