Wednesday 18 April 2012

April 18 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous

April 18 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "self honesty…" Self honesty! All humans find self honesty a difficult process and when we are sensitive and vulnerable, and we do not understand that sensitivity and vulnerability can be great strengths of character, we can over use denial as a coping strategy…

There are many things in life which are difficult to cope with and part of the human condition is to deploy denial as a way to cope with the extreme feelings which are so difficult. Grief and loss of people, places and things tip most humans into some form of denial from the "I cannot believe this is happening" moments to years of denial about our true situation. Step one, admitting and accepting the true nature of our condition has become a daily process for me…

Self honesty is difficult, and as M Scott Peck said in his book the road less travelled, "life is difficult." No wonder all human beings find reality difficult. And what starts with little white lies to ourselves, can become great big whopping lies to ourselves which then become part of us and what we share with others. No easy feat to keep working on self honesty and being honest with everyone around us. All the steps help us live the best we can with what we have, it is progress and imperfectly perfect learning to live today…

The degree to which we become open, honest and willing to share the truth about ourselves is always going to be a personal choice and something we develop through time. The adage, "truth will set us free" must be true, at the same time there are consequences which sometimes we would wish were different...

DonInLondon 2005-2011

Needs met, wants forgotten ~ Henry David Thoreau "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone" Experience life as it is . . just for today

Self honesty, a journey in a day, an appraisal of our feelings, thoughts and actions reveals to what extent we have found truth in our endeavours ~ John Lyly "He that loseth his honesty hath nothing else to lose" -/- progress not perfect as we are restored to balance and sanity...
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AA Daily Reflection: SELF-HONESTY... The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves. . . . When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 17
When I was drinking, I deceived myself about reality, rewriting it to what I wanted it to be. Deceiving others is a character defect–even if it is just stretching the truth a bit or cleaning up my motives so others would think well of me. My Higher Power can remove this character defect, but first I have to help myself become willing to receive that help by not practicing deception. I need to remember each day that deceiving myself about myself is setting myself up for failure or disappointment in life and in Alcoholics Anonymous. A close, honest relationship with a Higher Power is the only solid foundation I’ve found for honesty with self and with others.

As Bill Sees It ~ In Partnership... As we made spiritual progress, it became clear that, if we ever were to feel emotionally secure, we would have to put our lives on a give and take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all those around us. We saw that we would need to give constantly of ourselves without demand for repayment. When we persistently did this, we gradually found that people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they failed us, we could be understanding and not too seriously affected.
The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire Fellowship. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 115-116
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I do not speak for Alcoholics Anonymous I speak for myself. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of unique and authentic people who speak for themselves where they will to share experience, strength and hope about recovery on a daily basis. Anonymity affords sanctuary to find how to live sober and be open, honest and willing to learn life day by day. For me "truth," "love" and "wisdom" offer the best spiritual experience by living reality today. Into the fabric of recovery from alcoholism are woven the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions, steps to be open, honest and willing to learn, traditions to live unity, service and recovery.
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Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link:

"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
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