When we were in active addiction, the values we applied to our daily lives often tended to be selfish ones. We used the payback rule: if you push me, I'll push back, hard. We were possessive, and tended to say things were ours even when they were not. These grim values were the kind of rationalizations that dug us deeper into our addition. Through our connection with God and by working the Twelve Steps, we can develop a set of real values. As shown in the picture of the mother and daughter, these include compassion and caring for our families. We learn to be honest and to accept responsibility for our actions. Through recovery, we can be grateful for the better values that we are developing.
Adapted from Just for Today (1991), p. 255, https://www.cwpascna.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/JustForToday.pdf