Our journey through the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous teaches us the value of daily
inventory. Much can be discovered and the inner self can be transformed as we move away
from the instincts of our human nature and progress into the world of
the Spirit. We realize there is no need to wait until the end of
each day to perform such an inventory, as we can address the manifestation of our defects as they
occur. The book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "There is the spot check inventory, taken at any time of the day that we find ourselves getting tangled up." This may be as simple as identifying unkind thoughts that we have of people who are not like us in appearance or beliefs, so that we can reveal and deal with the thoughts as they are happening...and not wait until the end of the day to address such things.When we have completed the first nine steps of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous we have extricated ourselves from the past and freed ourselves of the shame and guilt we carried for so many years. By implementing a daily inventory and progressing it steadily into a spot check inventory, we can tackle the manifestation of our character defects as they occur in the present so that in this moment and at this time we are free of the instincts of our human nature and one with God.
We have unraveled, treated and released our past and are now free of the bondage of self - we are at peace in the will of God. Discovery through inventory is a crucial tool of recovery, existing so as not to create yet another unpleasant past that we are burdened to carry into the present.
Written by Armand
Edited by Caitlin Alexandra
When I first joined AA, I heard the phrase "but you have to do the work" over and over again. It wasn't until I found a sponsor willing and able to guide me through The Big Book and The Twelve Steps that I fully understood what the "work" was and is. As you've pointed out, I must first be willing to abandon myself to The Power Within me through The Second Step where I learn to trust. And then I must be able to follow the suggestions clearly outlined in the remaining Steps. The Tenth Step enables me to stay on the path to Recovery by discarding the residue of my past and by not recreating it in the present. My certain conviction is that I have had to abandon myself in order to find myself through The Power Within me whom I now know and feel. The walls between my former self and my higher self have had to be removed. In my experience, therein lies both the work and the reward. As The Big Book states in Step Ten, our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. Not an overnight matter. It must continue for a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteMichael An alcoholic can't possibly recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body without admitting honestly to themselves that recognized behavior which is the manifestation of their character defects. Once recognized than we can use the necessary additional Steps to wipe the slate clean. If practiced on a daily basis we are than once again free of our past living at peace in the present...Thank You...Armand
ReplyDeleteA psychic change occurs to relieve an alcoholic from the fatal obsession. This happens through conscious contact with a higher power. The victory over many other obstacles (human frailty) is evidence of a higher power. Any goodness we see in people might be said to be a reflection of God, in whose image our Spirit is made. My Spirit is already perfect as God made it so. The conditioned thinking as the side effect of shame based socialization is target of inventory. A hurting ego receives light thru it's cracks within the 12 step process.
ReplyDeleteSpiritual Being well said. When an alcoholic or anyone abandons their nature and lives in the will of God they have perfected their human existence...Thank you...
ReplyDeleteAlso if you would like kindly fill the contact form and you will be sure to receive all the blogs...Armand
This Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteIf done with absolute abandon, the previous steps have brought us into a divinely inspired personal relationship with God. We have discovered that he is not some mystical nebular "force" but in fact a Person, a Loving Father who loves each and every one of us with a love beyond telling. In Step 7 we have humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings for we have come to realize that His plan is a Divine plan that can only be accomplished with Divine Power, His Power and the very essence of His Being. In steps 8 and 9 we discover He has healed our once seared conscience.
Our spirit has become tender, "Finally, we begin to see that all people, including our-selves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. It will become more and more evident as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up. We can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far more His success than ours."
At this point in our journey, our sick and empty obsession with self is being replaced by love and understanding for all as we discover that the essence of His very own love and understanding for all his children has begun to inhabit our spirit. We are becoming a partaker of His plan discovering "We can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic." And that moment by moment our very lives are becoming His prayer.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic The true purpose of inventory is to realize to our innermost self that we are powerless in overcoming our character defects. Without an absolute surrender of our human nature and the willingness to have our thought process inspired by the will of God can alcoholic live in the present free of the manifestation of self...As you say "our very lives are becoming His prayer."...Thank you...Armand
DeleteEvery day there are moments, words, feelings of which my human nature fights to strike on my spirit. Like a taught tether my nature straps my soul to the wreckage of my thoughts…and the storms begins. In my addiction the chaos was my status quo, the disease was the center of it and I simply let it fill my emptiness. Suffering was all I knew. The program of Alcoholics Anonymous has taught me what to fill the emptiness with in lieu of such tempest existence.
ReplyDeleteIf I chose to ignore the inventory necessary for joy to take its place I am indeed ignorant to the cataclysmic effect my character has had on others. To carry the burden of hurting another by choosing to act in such a way my human nature behooves itself to (or to not act and so in turn fail to open my heart to them) is indeed a bigger burden to carry than anything I do, have done, or could do to myself. To bury such impressions of a debit in my inventory on myself is to ruin a day, a week, or even just a few minutes of my life - what about others, then? How many minutes or days or passing thoughts of their lives have been spent in torment because I couldn't follow the simple suggestion to CHECK MYSELF - what I said, what I did, what I didn't do and what I didn't say?
Without the knowledge and inspiration gathered from the practice of a program which has irrefutably bettered lives (and saved them), I wouldn't know what life was like to truly live. I would be lost in the ups and downs of my every single day and as a result would be constantly displaying a welcoming attitude toward my own demise from this disease - and possibly even the demise of others. I know what I did in the past tortured those I loved, so selfishly, and some of those I loved were gone before I learned how to heal their battle wounds. To constantly be vigil and loving of others is not a sacrifice but a welcomed requirement to be fully and sanely recovered.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deleterepair
DeleteCaitlin a life lived in the will of God calibrated through inventory and repair is a life worth living...Thank You...Armand
Delete