I heard this from a man called Al in an AA meeting over twenty years ago. I've never forgotten it.

Suppose [said Al] that I have a physical pain in my stomach. I go to the doctor and he examines me. Then he says:

"Well, you have appendicitis. I need to take somebody's appendix out." And the doctor looks about himself vaguely, as if uncertain as to whom he should operate on.

What would we think of such a doctor? We'd think he was crazy, wouldn't we? If I have appendicitis, it's my appendix that needs to come out, not someone else's.

But [continued Al], suppose I have an emotional pain: I am sad, or angry, or resentful. What is the first thing I do? I look around myself, determined to find the person who's causing me this pain. It seems so reasonable to us that my physical pain is caused by something being wrong with me, while my emotional pain is caused by something being wrong with you.

The great gift of Step 10 is its provision of a practice that causes me to look at me when I feel bad, rather than someone else. It makes such a lot of sense ... when we're in good shape, of course. But the aim of practicing Step 10 continuously is to make it a habit to look at myself even when I'm not feeling so good.