July 27, 2013 step seven in mind: problem solving and decision making, on the emotional, spiritual and physical pathway of life. Sometimes, problem-solving and decision-making, only involves me on my own when problems and solutions are just about me. Then, the dangerous territory of problem-solving and decision-making on the emotional, spiritual and physical motorway, where everyone is involved and it’s not just about me. Can I keep to a positive pathway or motorway? Where courage to change, faith in doing the right thing and confidence becomes very important when life is good, bad and ugly from moment to moment.
Humility! I cannot do it on my own? Certainly not when it comes to sober, and why should I stop there as if sober gives me something extra over and above everybody else? Thankfully, humility and step two, being restored to sanity is a good reminder when the chips are down. I can return to insanity, the quick fix solutions of olden days, not necessarily drinking, just going back to old patterns which do not help me find solutions. It is not all about me, I need to listen to the experience strength and hope of many people sometimes when decisions not only affect me, and my decisions have an effect on everyone around me.
Humility! Other people have been utilising their own courage to change, faith in doing the next right thing and building their confidence for years. And as luck would have it, on the emotional spiritual and physical level, there are many good people with experience strength and hope and the wisdom of doing things that can be very helpful when I encounter problems and need to make decisions. Contempt prior to investigation, can lead to a lonely outcome if we cannot learn from what is going on and from other people who might know more and often do know a great deal more than me. Asking for help is also about learning how to accept help when we haven't had much use for the ideas and knowledge and skill and wisdom and experience of everyone around us.
Humility is absolutely essential every single day. Spiritual: the ability to cope with the reality and live in reality. Emotional: to experience my feelings in the moment of now, and not next week when my thinking may have caught up with the feelings that have been going on! And physically, trying to live in the present moment and be present even if I feel a bit under the weather, because if I'm feeling incomplete, I might be hungry, and might be angry and might be lonely and might be tired? This is really good news, knowing I am in reality, feeling reality and physically present in reality. I know from experience and from "learned people" that they call this: "mind, body and breath being experienced in the moment of now." Simply being present in the ever present, imperfectly perfect, moment of now…
Humility to me means that I don't know the answers for myself sometimes, and any answers I might suggest to you, well I need to be careful when it comes to giving advice, suggestions and anything else because what is right for me can be absolutely wrong for you. So when I share experience strength and hope, often it is not the answer which is applicable, because your experience, strength and hope lived in the good old bad and ugly world can be far better than mine. So I need to keep on listening, not just because it's polite to do so, I need to keep on listening to the beliefs and opinions, experience strength and hope as it arrives on a daily basis whether I want it or not. More often I need it, your advice that is, and accept it and thank you for it!
Alcoholics Anonymous Videos, AA is for Alcoholics, AA 12 Steps, Addiction And Recovery, DonInLondon, Don Oddy,
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