The program of Alcoholics Anonymous has in place the
apparatus necessary to deal with our character defects surfaced either
in the daily or the spot check inventory. If necessary we can use the
Ninth Step which is "made direct amends to such people wherever
possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." If we
decide that an amend is necessary than we go ahead immediately and make
the amend in an effort to live in the present, in the will of God and
not create another past that we will have to extricate ourselves from.
Then we can use The Seventh Step which is "Humbly ask God to remove our
shortcomings.". If our actions cause us to have any shame or guilt,
then we use the Fifth Step of AA which is "admitted to God, to ourselves
and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs" so that we may
be living in the present with a clean slate and a serene mind.
If we are willing to inventory, make amends, ask God to
remove our defect, share our wrongs with ourselves, God and another
human being there will be NO NEED TO CREATE A PAST. This allows us to
live in the present, in the will of God.
As
alcoholics we have worked hard to free ourselves from our past and if we
are willing to integrate the program of Alcoholics Anonymous into our
lives in such a way that it becomes our life than the creation of a
past, that at least subconsciously is having a negative effect on our
present consciousness, will not occur. This is a critical tool in
permanent recovery.
The concept of not creating a past is a brilliant opportunity to live in the present moment. Without The Twelve Steps incorporated into my daily life, I will always create disharmony and regret. That is what my human nature knows and does. My human nature on its own is incapable of living in the moment. Therefore, I know that I must live in the Will of God or be lost to the past without a future. I came into AA filled with painful negativity, hopeless. The Steps hung on the wall as stepping stones to peace of mind, the ultimate gift of sobriety for me. The objective was to find a Higher Power and the directions were to practice The Steps as enthusiastically as possible. In that way, we are able to live one day at a time - which is all we have. And we can avoid the ongoing pain of the past.
ReplyDeleteMichael just love when you wrote "I will always create disharmony and regret. That is what my human nature knows and does." Once we have dealt with our past and continue to set right any harms as we go along we have the opportunity to live in the present in our spiritual nature...Thank you...Armand
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