Know Thyself

One thing students learn here by following the 12 Steps is how to be more introspective:  how to honestly assess their character for both assets and defects.  One student who has become more introspective since her arrival no longer blames others for her tendency to get angry and fly off the handle when she's irritated.  She now sees it as her problem, her defect, which she attributes to her own impatience, pride and selfishness.  Armed with this bit of self-knowledge, she is now better able to curb her irritability by counting to ten, by talking or writing it out, by helping someone else who's down, or any number of other anger management techniques that address and counter her own defects rather than the defects of those around her.