I recently heard a fellow qualify at a meeting. He related that every morning when he got up he counted the birds on his bedpost. These little “birdies” were people that he had interacted with the previous day to whom he owed an amend. Many of these amends were for essentially minor offenses. Perhaps he had been a bit brusk with someone at work, or had been a few minutes late for an appointment. The important thing was that by the end of each day amends were made to each of these little “birds”.

This course of action was very different from his behavior prior to the program. In the past, when he had in some way offended a person, he would spend weeks on end dodging them. He would literally avoid going down a certain block or shopping in a particular store to not encounter one of his “victims”. A lot of energy was spent evading a chance meeting. By resolving any potential amends that needed to be made, he could get on with the business of the day free of fear and resentment. By solidifying this practice, he also discovered that over time the number of birds on his bedpost each morning had decreased.

Personal Reflection: Do I have any bedpost birds that need attending to?