In The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions it is written: "A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real desire to learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us. We alcoholics have learned this the hard way. More experienced people, of course, in all times and places have practiced unsparing self-survey and criticism. For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to ADMIT and ACCEPT what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.
Through daily inventory we can admit and accept that our character defects are a part of our human nature, a part that cannot manifest if we are truly living in the will of God. We are completely capable of understanding, if the proper work on the 12 steps is thoroughly done, that our human nature is in fact defected. We must accept this about ourselves if we desire to be recovered.
In the program of Alcoholics Anonymous it is often said, "Let go and let God." The "Let go" part is turning from the incessant prompts of our human nature and the "Let God" part is living in, and thereby manifesting, the will of God. Living in the raw-natured will of God, our character defects cannot be manifested in our behavior - it is in such a spiritual place that our nature can be perfected as we become the human being that God created us to be.
Self-survey is a most powerful tool of recovery.
Harry Emerson Fosdick, a pastor/writer and Bill Wilson contemporary, stated that "self-confrontation is the beginning of a meaningful life." Admitting my defects and accepting myself through self-survey in The Fourth Step required a herculean effort. But, most importantly, that action and the Steps that followed, gave my life new and certain meaning in a "raw-natured" yet spiritually relevant way. I knew I had found the "raw" material with which to work as guided by The Power Within me who was located only by incorporating all Twelve Steps into my life. As a result, today I can accept myself in a much softer, more ripened manner - a way of being me that continues to improve with time and service. The upshot, of course, is that not only have I grown nearer to The Power Within me, but I have grown nearer to the man I was born to be - the penultimate of gift of recovery. The Ultimate Gift is to give it all away.
ReplyDeleteMichael Thanks for sharing your experience...Armand
DeleteUntil I can accept a situation as it is I am stuck in the problem, however once I accept I can begin to live in the solution. In step 5 I admitted to myself, to God and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs and once I accepted the inventory I could work on the rest of the steps to gain a new freedom and happiness. I have to in step 10 continue this process on a daily basis and admit promptly where I am wrong. What I have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of my spiritual condition. I never can forget where I came from because alcohol is a subtle foe.
ReplyDeleteAnne thanks for sharing your experience...Armand
Deleteo me
ReplyDelete"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 I find this simple prayer is the key that opens the floodgates of grace contained within Step 10. I thank my gracious Father for showing me that the heart of the matter is always the heart. He has opened His heart to me and blessed me with His lovingkindness and tender mercy and in grateful response I can unreservedly offer my heart to Him in a renewed commitment to care about what concerns Him so that His love might overflow from me into the lives of others. It is His eternal blessing now gratefully experienced, one day at a time, every day of my life, until I met the Master face to face. To that miraculous journey I say, Amen...
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
a gratefully Recovering Alcoholic Thanks for sharing your experience...Armand
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