Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬

How: one bite, one word, one moment at a time.

Why: it’ll fester, you’ll stay stuck.

When: pronto, quick, now.

This is the tenth step in action. This is what we’ve been instructed to do since time immemorial.

It’s the simple but painful act of fessing up when we screw up and trying to make it right.

It’s the owning of our own stupidity and the casting out of our own selfishness.

We need a clean slate much more than we need our ego to be stroked.

The lie that we are coerced to believing is that there is room under the rug to sweep any and everything we need to get rid of.

The lie is that we actually get rid of those things.

Putting off reparations, except in unique circumstances, does nothing but clog up our new way of life with doubt, regret and/or the poison of conflict.

I don’t like fessing up or owning up or cleaning up my act a lot of the time. But I know it’s the better way.

I know it’s what gives me hope for the future.

I know it’s paving sturdy ground for my sobriety.

God, give me a clean heart and head.