Tuesday 3 April 2012

April 3 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous

April 3 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "accepting our humanness." An emotional and spiritual program where we learn about our feelings and letting go trying to control them, trying to think them the way we think they ought to be…

The very first drink of alcohol did the damage and I crossed the line. That first drink opened me up to new feelings which for whatever reason had been suppressed by life experience. I was used to being fearful and simply tolerated just about. And I had no voice or understanding of how to express what was going on inside me. Before the first drink I had no outlet or opportunity to understand feelings. And then decades later all alcohol did was offer oblivion from pain and desolation…

Accepting my humanness, no need to cover up or feel guilt and shame about my feelings, not trying to second guess whether they are the correct feelings, the appropriate feelings, the feelings I think I ought to have, and the inappropriate feelings which need some thought… My gut reaction is my feelings informing me about my situation then I can apply some thinking as long as the thinking does not lead me back into old habits attitudes and behaviour.

The seven deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. The seven virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility. Sins and virtues, what lies behind our behaviour, our attitude and outlook on any given day. We feel whatever we feel about our situations, and then we need to work out what is right not only for us, but what is right in good conscience and right for everyone, from self obsession to selflessness…

Today I feel better, that feeling of being turned inside out, some say "rattling" after a week where other clinical conditions went haywire. I need also be more vigilant when working together with medical people that they are competent to have the right experience and be able to use their computer records and adjust them correctly. Some suggest our National Health Service is in crisis, currently I agree with them…

DonInLondon 2005-2011 [ Full daily blog link: http://donoddylondon.blogspot.com/ ]

Very human humans: in recovery we need new experiences so we may learn how to love, be loved and useful ~ Marilyn Monroe "I have feelings too. I am still human. All I need is to be loved, for myself and for my talent" As we live our feelings, love, joy, surprise, sadness anger and fear, we feel the extremes and the balance of life as it is just for today..

We are very human humans in recovery, learning our feelings in the moment of now. Now is our spiritual connection, our current reality. As we come to understand how we are feeling, be it a mixture of fear, joy, love, sadness, surprise and or anger, we understand our extremes and our balance in life experiences. Step four highlights how our feelings impact on our past behaviour and how we may respond differently today, and now. We see our part in what is happening today..
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AA Daily Reflection: ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the other man’s. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and became willing to set these matters straight. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222

Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept responsibility? I used to drink because of the things that other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was told to look at where I had been wrong. What did I have to do with all these different matters? When I simply accepted that I had a part in them, I was able to put it on paper and see it for what it was – humanness. I am not expected to be perfect! I have made errors before and I will make them again. To be honest about them allows me to accept them – and myself – and those with whom I had the differences; from there, recovery is just a short distance ahead.
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As Bill Sees It ~ Toward Honesty The perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one permeates human affairs from top to bottom. Tis subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living. The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves. Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical. When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God. 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 94-95 2. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
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Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6ZjNH5tlb8
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
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