Secrets clutter our mind, preventing the stillness within where our prayers find answers. Sharing our fears, our hurts, our anger, keeps open our channel to God. It has been said, “We are only as sick as the secrets we keep.” Our emotional health as recovering women is hindered, perhaps even jeopardized, each time we hold something within that we need to talk over with others. For the things I was prompted to keep silent about were nearly always the things I was ashamed of, which would have been far better aired. … in silence might be the privilege of the strong, but it was certainly a danger to the weak. Then I’ll list three reasons why the Steps are a good plan for living. Help me follow them.Īction for the Day: Today, I’ll take time out to read the Twelve Steps. Thank you for leading me to the Twelve Steps. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have shown me a new way of life, a plan for living. Do I believe the Twelve Steps are a good plan of living? Sometimes we think we can do better on our own. Each Step builds on the progress we made from the Step before it. Recovery brings us the Twelve Steps, and each Step gives us direction and wisdom. This caused a lot of pain for us and those around us. We lived our lives as out-of-control people. If you don’t know where you are going, You’ll probably end up somewhere else. Today I’ll drop the negative or outworn relics from the past and press on to find the things that are for my greatest good. As our thoughts and beliefs change, the old patterns drop away and the new life reveals itself to us. “Behold, I make all things new,” is the ancient promise. We must also “recover” from other relationships and patterns that were destructive or kept us from our highest good. No alcoholic can recover, for example, by choosing to remain in the old drinking environment. If we’re to grasp this new way of life, we must let go of the old habits of the past. We should have new attitudes, new experiences, new opportunities. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress.Ī 12 Step program should give us a new way of life, our friends often say. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals. Only Step One, where we made the 100 per cent admission that we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. way of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections that we do not possess. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. That old-time admonition may look like another of those handy alibis that can excuse us from trying for our best. When we early A.A.’s got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we coined this expression: “Don’t try to be a saint by Thursday!” I pray that I may cast it off and press on in faith. I pray that I may not carry the burden of the past. Remember the saying: “Neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more.” I can be made whole and free, even though I have wrecked my life in the past. God has no reproach for anything that He has healed. The path will become less stony with every forward step I take. The clouds will clear and the way will lighten. I must not carry the burden of my past failures. Nothing can be done about the past, except to make what restitution I can. I must forget the past as much as possible. The future is as uncertain as life itself. So the only real hope for the alcoholic is to face the present. The result is that they live in a constant state of remorse and fear because of their unholy past and its morbid attraction, or the uncertain future and its vague foreboding. Then the Fellowship will be here, healthy and strong for generations to come. If I remain unrelated to outside interest, I am free to keep A. Cooperation without affiliation is often deceiving. False pride can be inflated through prestige but, by living Tradition Six, I receive the gift of humility instead. and, as a result, I have been rewarded with many gifts. I have learned that I must sacrifice some of my personality traits for the good of A. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice means unity and survival for the group and for A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.
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