Alcoholics Anonymous Blog & Video | July 3 2014
Step six: defects of character can come out very quickly, especially when expectations and entitlements are underway and resentments follow very quickly. Step seven: a particular shortcoming we can all have is acceptance of reality as it is, real life on life's terms. Emotional and spiritual well-being, feeling right with life in the moment of now, or feeling wrong with life in the moment of now can be very difficult to accept. When people suggest there is no right or wrong, they are right, I just don't like it!
A friend of mine mentioned a while ago that there are no good emotions or bad emotions, we just have emotions or feelings, and hopefully the feelings are "reality sized." Feelings fitting reality, and having some sort of acceptance. Acceptance does not mean that we like the situation or hate the situation. Acceptance means we acknowledge the feelings which fit with our reality. So it is okay to have a full repertoire of feelings, even when the feelings are downright uncomfortable.
I feel okay this morning, there are some things to do. And I can do them. As long as I don't push too hard and try go too far, today is likely to work well. If today does not work well, because that implies I do have some expectations, my expectations will not be met. So although I have some things to do, and getting a job done is important, it is not life threatening. And the world is not going to collapse if I cannot complete the tasks at hand. And as I am reliant on others to cooperate, I can really lower my expectations to zero, because I am powerless over the activities of others I need to engage.
Priorities which include other people means we need the same agenda. Often have I seen things go wrong when the agenda is unclear and people are shooting off in all directions. I suppose it's a bit like the England football team, all of them hugely professional and proficient and yet there were so many miscommunications, they came home early from the World Cup. No blame here, at the same time they are very sorry and hopefully next time… Expectations can really undermine a nation and leave them wrong-footed.
Shortcomings: primary areas of development, courage, faith and confidence. These areas of development do not require blind adherence to principles. Every principle needs foundation. To develop courage, it takes time. To develop faith, this takes time. And to develop confidence, patience and time help immensely. If at first, we do not succeed, we can try again. And this applies in all areas of endeavour. Providing there is foundation to the challenge and the endeavour we undertake. Blind obedience, at the extreme, without any preparation and without any effort can put anyone in the doldrums for years and years.
Which is why I always remind myself of step two. Every morning I recollect the insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So the insanity of repetition, and no change, step seven, will lead nowhere very quickly. And then a step backwards into step six, where expectations are resentments under construction is pretty much guaranteed. Acceptance is not waiting, it is attempting a new direction, when a new direction is necessary to make progress.
Step Seven Video 12 And 12
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