April 8 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 4 "Inventory" | Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "an inside look, natural desires and instincts…" Step four is not a fearful moral inventory, it is a fearless moral inventory. The facts as we see them, written down to illustrate how we felt "our emotions at the time" and what happened and the consequences…
It is very difficult sometimes to work out what a natural instinct is, and our desires. And to what extent we may have found ourselves in other addictive behaviour around people places and things. The more we feared we were out of control or warped in our outlook the less likely we would share our shame and guilt with others. Once we take the lid off and realise that natural instincts and desires, often fantasies are not reality and need to be shared so we get a more balanced understanding of what happened…
As a psychiatrist once said to me, "fantasy is a very necessary part of the human psyche." It is when we cannot differentiate between what is possible and natural, and what is not possible and in the realms of dreams and fantasies that we cannot find the wisdom to know the difference…
Fearless and thorough can be very revealing when we look at our history, a self appraisal for our personal growth. So often we find that our actions and behaviour are so repetitive we get to a point when we want to stop looking and start wondering what to do about life today. However we tackled step four, if it reveals what got in the way of our progress, in my case fear, putting on a brave face and ego "my defects of character" and the things I lacked most, which now seem to be broadly courage, faith and confidence in just being another human being on the planet "shortcomings, lack of growth and self-esteem..."
Step four is like any other step in the programme when it is approached in an open honest and willing way. Making it so big that it cannot be done is a mistake many people fall into. As soon as we stop drinking and start getting sober, we are already on all the steps. I went to meetings where the scrolls with the 12 steps and 12 traditions were hung on the wall and easily seen. Very often the scrolls are lost and meetings continue without them. And imagination makes some of the steps more difficult than others when we don't see them all in context every day…
DonInLondon 2005-2011
April is a review of what step 4 means to me in my videos. A return to balance in my outlook and natural instincts, my feelings and being in the moment of now. When life is at extremes of good or bad, my feelings are too. This is where step 4 and then step 10 are in action and work in the moment. The big picture improves with guidance and wisdom from others. Higher Power and people rock!
Truth Love & Wisdom: help me find who I may become today, letting go old fears opens up the door to new living, understanding how to be just me today. Balance and understanding our feelings, making choices based on real experiences, we let go expectations of doom or omnipotence, the difference between back then, and what is now..
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: AN INSIDE LOOK We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.43
Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many ways enslavement still threatens–my self, my desires, even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist; without dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward. I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call upon God’s power to face the person I’ve feared the most, the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!
-/-
As Bill Sees It ~ Review the Day When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflections, for that would diminish our usefulness to ourselves and to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 86
-/-
Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link:
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
-/-
It is very difficult sometimes to work out what a natural instinct is, and our desires. And to what extent we may have found ourselves in other addictive behaviour around people places and things. The more we feared we were out of control or warped in our outlook the less likely we would share our shame and guilt with others. Once we take the lid off and realise that natural instincts and desires, often fantasies are not reality and need to be shared so we get a more balanced understanding of what happened…
As a psychiatrist once said to me, "fantasy is a very necessary part of the human psyche." It is when we cannot differentiate between what is possible and natural, and what is not possible and in the realms of dreams and fantasies that we cannot find the wisdom to know the difference…
Fearless and thorough can be very revealing when we look at our history, a self appraisal for our personal growth. So often we find that our actions and behaviour are so repetitive we get to a point when we want to stop looking and start wondering what to do about life today. However we tackled step four, if it reveals what got in the way of our progress, in my case fear, putting on a brave face and ego "my defects of character" and the things I lacked most, which now seem to be broadly courage, faith and confidence in just being another human being on the planet "shortcomings, lack of growth and self-esteem..."
Step four is like any other step in the programme when it is approached in an open honest and willing way. Making it so big that it cannot be done is a mistake many people fall into. As soon as we stop drinking and start getting sober, we are already on all the steps. I went to meetings where the scrolls with the 12 steps and 12 traditions were hung on the wall and easily seen. Very often the scrolls are lost and meetings continue without them. And imagination makes some of the steps more difficult than others when we don't see them all in context every day…
DonInLondon 2005-2011
April is a review of what step 4 means to me in my videos. A return to balance in my outlook and natural instincts, my feelings and being in the moment of now. When life is at extremes of good or bad, my feelings are too. This is where step 4 and then step 10 are in action and work in the moment. The big picture improves with guidance and wisdom from others. Higher Power and people rock!
Truth Love & Wisdom: help me find who I may become today, letting go old fears opens up the door to new living, understanding how to be just me today. Balance and understanding our feelings, making choices based on real experiences, we let go expectations of doom or omnipotence, the difference between back then, and what is now..
-/-
AA Daily Reflection: AN INSIDE LOOK We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.43
Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many ways enslavement still threatens–my self, my desires, even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist; without dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward. I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call upon God’s power to face the person I’ve feared the most, the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!
-/-
As Bill Sees It ~ Review the Day When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflections, for that would diminish our usefulness to ourselves and to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 86
-/-
Step 4 "Fearless Inventory" Reading Video Link:
"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"
-/-
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