Saturday, September 09, 2006
A.A.: Into Action: All That "Stuff"
"Having made our personal inventory, what shall we do about it?"
"Now these are about to be cast out. This requires action on our part, which, when completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our defects."
Alcoholics Anonymous
Into Action
Page 72
The title of this chapter tells it all -- Into Action. The founders of A.A. summarized the program with four central ideals: trust God, clean house, love, and service. Steps 4-9 are the "house cleaning" steps. In Step Four, we took a person inventory -- an honest and thorough review of our life and past behavior. This prepared us to take action to dump the baggage of our past. The Fifth Step in the program of recovery is, "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
As on might guess this can be a very scary proposition, uncomfortable at the very least. This step was suggesting that I actually tell someone about all the "stuff" that I had held secret. I had worked hard to avoid anyone finding out about all that "stuff," let alone actually tell anyone! Of course, all that "stuff" had kept me sick for years; all that "stuff" had kept me drinking to numb the pain of those repressed feelings and guilt trying to float to the surface.
By the time I had completed my 4th Step inventory and was preparing to move to the next step, I was beginning to trust Alcoholics Anonymous, the people I had met there, and I was beginning to trust God. By admitting that I was an alcoholic, I had already broken down some of the resistance to telling someone else about my character defects. So, in a way, the 5th Step was just a continuation of that revealing. I was also reassured by the stories of others who had done the work before me. They talked about having the same fear that I was feeling and of how things worked out okay.
No one wants to admit to having hurt others or behaving badly or being different, but there really isn't anything that anyone has done that someone else hasn't also done. Most sponsors, pastors, or people who have been around A.A. for a few years have "heard it all" before. That doesn't make the behavior acceptable, but it does mean that practically no one will be so shocked and astonished so as to cause permanent damage to the person listening. So, take a deep breath, and get started!
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
"Now these are about to be cast out. This requires action on our part, which, when completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our defects."
Alcoholics Anonymous
Into Action
Page 72
The title of this chapter tells it all -- Into Action. The founders of A.A. summarized the program with four central ideals: trust God, clean house, love, and service. Steps 4-9 are the "house cleaning" steps. In Step Four, we took a person inventory -- an honest and thorough review of our life and past behavior. This prepared us to take action to dump the baggage of our past. The Fifth Step in the program of recovery is, "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
As on might guess this can be a very scary proposition, uncomfortable at the very least. This step was suggesting that I actually tell someone about all the "stuff" that I had held secret. I had worked hard to avoid anyone finding out about all that "stuff," let alone actually tell anyone! Of course, all that "stuff" had kept me sick for years; all that "stuff" had kept me drinking to numb the pain of those repressed feelings and guilt trying to float to the surface.
By the time I had completed my 4th Step inventory and was preparing to move to the next step, I was beginning to trust Alcoholics Anonymous, the people I had met there, and I was beginning to trust God. By admitting that I was an alcoholic, I had already broken down some of the resistance to telling someone else about my character defects. So, in a way, the 5th Step was just a continuation of that revealing. I was also reassured by the stories of others who had done the work before me. They talked about having the same fear that I was feeling and of how things worked out okay.
No one wants to admit to having hurt others or behaving badly or being different, but there really isn't anything that anyone has done that someone else hasn't also done. Most sponsors, pastors, or people who have been around A.A. for a few years have "heard it all" before. That doesn't make the behavior acceptable, but it does mean that practically no one will be so shocked and astonished so as to cause permanent damage to the person listening. So, take a deep breath, and get started!
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
# posted by Bill B. @ 6:54 AM 
