Thursday, December 20, 2018

AA 4th Step as of December 19th, 2018

P.59                      HOW IT WORKS
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol- that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another hu- man being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and be-
came willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we
were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alco- holics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: “God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!” We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.

P.64. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions.
Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four. 

One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret.  

We did exactly the same thing with our lives. We took stock honestly. First, we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations..

Resentment is the “number one” offender. 
It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships
 
P.65 (including sex) were hurt or threatened. So we were sore. We were “burned up.”
On our grudge list we set opposite each name our injuries.  Was it our self-esteem, our security, our ambitions, our personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?


I’m resentful at:  The Cause.        
Mr. Brown.             His attention to my wife.
                                Told my wife of my mistress.
                                Brown may get my job at the        
                                 office
                                 Affects My
                                 Sex relations. Self-esteem (fear) Sex relations. Self-esteem (fear) Security.                            


Mrs.Jones.                She’s a nut - she snubbed  .                                
                                   She committed her husband      
                                    for drinking He’s my friend                                          
                                   She’s a gossip
                                       Affects My
                                  Personal relationship. Self-esteem  
                                  (fear). 

My employer.            Unreasonable-Unjust -     
                                   Overbearing- Threatens                                    
                                    fire me for drinking and 
                                    padding my expense 
                                    account
                                     Affects My                          
                                   Self-esteem(fear) Security.
                                    
My wife.                  Misunderstands and nags    
                                 Likes Brown. Wants house
                                 put in her name.
                                 
                                     Affects My
                                 Pride - Personal sex relations 
                                  Security (fear)                                                   

 

😜Mark Krull   Photography/Blogger






I am Resentful at          Cause                     Affects My
So bad             Low expectations            Self esteem
                     Temper                            Relations w/     Women
                  Security
Frier               Not  present                   Self-worth Male identity Self-esteem 
                    
Matilda                Moody                        Security
       Sexual relations 
                                demanding       Self-esteem               Sexual relations
 

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