April 10 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "all about growing up…" This is particularly poignant this morning, I have an appointment with a medical consultant this morning. And to aid the discussion of my physical and emotional health, I have written a brief history of my life from 1967 to date. And it's all about growing up…
April in the daily reflections from AA is all about step four and writing a brief summary of what happened to me is very enlightening, disturbing and very fruitful. First and foremost accepting the past and what happened, the why and how. Knowing what my part in matters were and how I can change on a daily basis, sometimes making progress, no actually always making progress, especially at the extremes of good and bad times…
I've been in touch with an old friend, actually I'm not sure what the status of our relationship is. But I'm reminded just how difficult those early days in recovery are especially when returning to sobriety one day at a time. So easy to forget how fearful it was to come to a meeting of the Fellowship. And in those early days, newcomers meetings and stopping the drink and returning to sobriety is against all the odds…
Self appraisal, an honest and fearless look at what happened in our lives, is truly difficult. Why me? Why not me? Then a brief history and then a thorough fearless look at assets and liabilities. Step four shows us how resilient and tenacious we have been even when we have been self harming. And the prejudice we have against ourselves becomes clear as we continue our journey and live the twelve steps... Letting go and letting good happen, endeavour and acceptance and as we let go self prejudice our prejudice against others may disappear with time… Especially when we are reminded what it is like to be a newcomer every day…
DonInLondon 2005-2011 [ Full daily blog link: http://donoddylondon.blogspot.com/ ]
Fear and suspicion in early days kept me looking for the cracks in fellowship, or that there was something more than what I saw on a daily basis. I realised there was nothing but what I saw was what there was, a huge diversity of people with one similarity, to be unique and authentic individuals free and sober for today...
"Now" is about endeavour, understanding the possible, striving with hope and living the truth of now ~ Thomas Kempis "Great tranquillity of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame." -/- Right sized and equal with our fellows.. life is what it is
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: GROWING UP ~ The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115
Sometimes when I’ve become willing to do what I should have been doing all along, I want praise and recognition. I don’t realize that the more I’m willing to act differently, the more exciting my life is. The more I am willing to help others, the more rewards I receive. That’s what practicing the principles means to me. Fun and benefits for me are in the willingness to do the actions, not to get immediate results. Being a little kinder, a little slower to anger, a little more loving makes my life better-day by day.
-/-
As Bill Sees It ~ Surveying the Past ~ We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done to others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable injury. Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, very deep, sometimes quite forgotten. Therefore, we should try hard to recall and review those past events which originally induced these conflicts and which continue to give our emotions violent twists, thus discolouring our personalities and altering our lives for the worse... "We reacted more strongly to frustration than normal people. By reliving these episodes and discussing them in strict confidence with somebody else, we can reduce their size and therefore their potency in the unconscious." 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 79-80 2. LETTER, 1957
-/-
Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link:
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
-/-
April in the daily reflections from AA is all about step four and writing a brief summary of what happened to me is very enlightening, disturbing and very fruitful. First and foremost accepting the past and what happened, the why and how. Knowing what my part in matters were and how I can change on a daily basis, sometimes making progress, no actually always making progress, especially at the extremes of good and bad times…
I've been in touch with an old friend, actually I'm not sure what the status of our relationship is. But I'm reminded just how difficult those early days in recovery are especially when returning to sobriety one day at a time. So easy to forget how fearful it was to come to a meeting of the Fellowship. And in those early days, newcomers meetings and stopping the drink and returning to sobriety is against all the odds…
Self appraisal, an honest and fearless look at what happened in our lives, is truly difficult. Why me? Why not me? Then a brief history and then a thorough fearless look at assets and liabilities. Step four shows us how resilient and tenacious we have been even when we have been self harming. And the prejudice we have against ourselves becomes clear as we continue our journey and live the twelve steps... Letting go and letting good happen, endeavour and acceptance and as we let go self prejudice our prejudice against others may disappear with time… Especially when we are reminded what it is like to be a newcomer every day…
DonInLondon 2005-2011 [ Full daily blog link: http://donoddylondon.blogspot.com/ ]
Fear and suspicion in early days kept me looking for the cracks in fellowship, or that there was something more than what I saw on a daily basis. I realised there was nothing but what I saw was what there was, a huge diversity of people with one similarity, to be unique and authentic individuals free and sober for today...
"Now" is about endeavour, understanding the possible, striving with hope and living the truth of now ~ Thomas Kempis "Great tranquillity of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame." -/- Right sized and equal with our fellows.. life is what it is
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: GROWING UP ~ The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115
Sometimes when I’ve become willing to do what I should have been doing all along, I want praise and recognition. I don’t realize that the more I’m willing to act differently, the more exciting my life is. The more I am willing to help others, the more rewards I receive. That’s what practicing the principles means to me. Fun and benefits for me are in the willingness to do the actions, not to get immediate results. Being a little kinder, a little slower to anger, a little more loving makes my life better-day by day.
-/-
As Bill Sees It ~ Surveying the Past ~ We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done to others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable injury. Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, very deep, sometimes quite forgotten. Therefore, we should try hard to recall and review those past events which originally induced these conflicts and which continue to give our emotions violent twists, thus discolouring our personalities and altering our lives for the worse... "We reacted more strongly to frustration than normal people. By reliving these episodes and discussing them in strict confidence with somebody else, we can reduce their size and therefore their potency in the unconscious." 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 79-80 2. LETTER, 1957
-/-
Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link:
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
-/-
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