Outside of our program of recovery there is a lot of emphasis put on living a life based on self. We are all familiar with this having lived that way ourselves. We're also very aware of how much we suffered because of this and the pain that comes from being that way. The principles we learn in recovery steer us away from living a life based in self, and all the pain and suffering that follows when we live that way. Once any of us has experienced living by principles of the program we wonder how we could have ever wanted to live any other way. It's not always easy to get to, but it is made simple to get to if we follow the steps in the program and it's always worth it . It begins when we realize that any life based in self can never be a successful life, and there will always be an unreasonable amount of pain and suffering that follows when we live like that.