Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Participation in Life

I mentioned to Doughgirl the other day that she will be working Steps 6 & 7 of AA's Twelve Steps forever (hopefully). I believe that when the total program is done correctly, that a person is never finished with them. This goes for most of the steps as we try to live them one day at a time.

Basically, Steps 6 and 7 ask us to be willing for our Higher Power or God to remove our character defects and shortcomings. We understand that we are only asking Him to do this; it may never happen or it may partially happen. It rarely will happen when we want it to nor to the degree that we wish. There are many variables.

Have I truly worked Steps 1-5 already? Completely?
Am I ENTIRELY ready for this to happen?
Am I SINCERE when I ask Him to do this?

Assuming all this is done, I have to realize that my spirituality obviously comes into play now. I am praying to my Higher Power, whatever that may be.

Now, here's the BIG thing to me: I must be willing to participate in these steps by changing my behaviour. EXAMPLE: my drinking was nothing more than a symptom of my disease, just another character defect. My HP removed that desire and obsession to drink when I asked Him to. But I can very easily take another drink if I so choose. I absolutely must participate in the removal of that desire by simply not taking a drink. The same goes for most of my other defects. Whether they be resentments, sex, sloth or whatever. I must take action to avoid those things that will kill me. This is where the other steps come into my program. It's all tied together. I am powerless to remove these defects by myself, but I am not powerless when it comes to practicing them.

I hope this makes at least a bit of sense. I find it difficult to put into words. But I tried.

1 comment:

Scott W said...

Early in sobriety I heard over and over AAs say they practiced or tried to practice all the steps in their daily lives. I asked my sponsor about this, because I was confused. I thought it must take an incredible amount time during your day to do all the steps. He told me that after completing the steps, you apply them and the answers they have given you to your daily life. Whew! This concept now makes sense, but in those early days it was quite perplexing.