Monday, September 11, 2006
A.A.: Into Action: Sounding Board
"We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world."
"Rightly and naturally, we think well before we choose the person or persons with whom we take this intimate and confidential step."
Alcoholics Anonymous
Into Action
Page 74
"We're only as sick as our secrets" is one of my favorite A.A. slogans. I learned the hard way that it's best to get all our secrets, behavior, and thoughts for which we're ashamed out. If left bottled-up inside our minds, they retain control over our emotions and ability to live freely. I'm not talking about some big public announcement, but safely disclosed to a trustworthy person. It's a big part of cleaning our side of the street.
There is something liberating about confessing our prior bad acts. And, I believe that the Catholic faith presents a good model with its Sacrament of Penance. I don't claim to be an expert on Catholicism, but from my understanding, Catholics believe that a confession is more that the simple act of telling one's sins -- a confession must include sincere sorrow and a desire to make things right.
Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't explicitly state it as I've suggested, however, taken as a whole, the steps certainly imply a thorough and humbling amends.
The other point of this passage is to find someone that is trustworthy. I believe most in A.A. find a sponsor with whom to "do their fifth step."
Those who are probably not suitable include: your wife or husband, mother-in-law, your children, best friend, barber (unless he happens to be your sponsor), definitely not your old bartender, gossipy neighbor, boss, old girlfriend/boyfriend, fence post, Big Book, etc. In other words, find someone in A.A. with a few years of sobriety that you can trust (these are great qualities for a sponsor also).
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
"Rightly and naturally, we think well before we choose the person or persons with whom we take this intimate and confidential step."
Alcoholics Anonymous
Into Action
Page 74
"We're only as sick as our secrets" is one of my favorite A.A. slogans. I learned the hard way that it's best to get all our secrets, behavior, and thoughts for which we're ashamed out. If left bottled-up inside our minds, they retain control over our emotions and ability to live freely. I'm not talking about some big public announcement, but safely disclosed to a trustworthy person. It's a big part of cleaning our side of the street.
There is something liberating about confessing our prior bad acts. And, I believe that the Catholic faith presents a good model with its Sacrament of Penance. I don't claim to be an expert on Catholicism, but from my understanding, Catholics believe that a confession is more that the simple act of telling one's sins -- a confession must include sincere sorrow and a desire to make things right.
Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't explicitly state it as I've suggested, however, taken as a whole, the steps certainly imply a thorough and humbling amends.
The other point of this passage is to find someone that is trustworthy. I believe most in A.A. find a sponsor with whom to "do their fifth step."
Those who are probably not suitable include: your wife or husband, mother-in-law, your children, best friend, barber (unless he happens to be your sponsor), definitely not your old bartender, gossipy neighbor, boss, old girlfriend/boyfriend, fence post, Big Book, etc. In other words, find someone in A.A. with a few years of sobriety that you can trust (these are great qualities for a sponsor also).
Get the latest edition of:
Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Services
aa addiction alcoholism recovery sponsornet substance abuse
# posted by Bill B. @ 12:27 PM 
