Daily Reflections reading June 4th
Letting
Go Of Old Selves
Carefully
reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are
building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. . . . Are we
now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are
objectionable? ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 75, 76
The Sixth Step is the last
“preparation” Step. Although I have already used prayer extensively, I have
made no formal request of my Higher Power in the first Six Steps. I have
identified my problem, come to believe that there is a solution, made a
decision to seek this solution, and have “cleaned house.” I now ask: Am I
willing to live a life of sobriety, of change, to let go of my old self? I must
determine if I am truly ready to change. I review what I have done and become
willing for God to remove all my defects of character; for in the next Step, I
will tell my Creator I am willing and will ask for help. If I have been
thorough in the preparation of my foundation and feel that I am willing to
change, I am then ready to continue with the next Step. “If we still cling to
something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.” (Alcoholics
Anonymous, p. 76)
© Alcoholics Anonymous World
Services
My thoughts on June 4th Reading
Well
the question is am I willing, can I be honest enough to really try Step Six on
all my faults without any reservations whatever, I know my own willpower just
wouldn't work on alcohol, I tried the geographical cure cross country and guess
what I was still an jerk when I got there
I
couldn't stop drinking and no human being could make me stop, I had to became
willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him,
to take the desire to drink, away I had been relieved of my alcoholism, step
six shows me a way to be free from other problems
Self-exam
of all my character defects and shortcomings was needed, the grace of God did
enter my life and expelled obsession, and my instinct to live now could be in
tuned fully with God’s desire to give me a new way of life
I
had to start removing some of these false instincts to survive and learn how to
live life, my natural desires far exceeded their intended purpose, when I asked
God to forgive me He did not purify me, but He did give me a strong sense of
hope
That if I tried to follow His will trying the
best I knew, I would start to make progress in my new character, So Step Six is
a way to change my attitudes, to make a mere beginning on this lifetime job, I
did not expect all my character defects to be lifted
I
knew He would take the glaring ones, but I would have to be content with
patient improvement, was I entirely ready to have God remove all these defects
of character, not really the best I could do with all the honesty and humility
I could muster up, is to make a beginning
Like
any other human I to was just not ready to give up all my character defects, I
did recognize that in some of my defects, I really loved to feel a little
superior to the next man I did let greed masquerade as ambition I do admit that
sex excursions were all dressed up
As
dreams of romance finance and self-importance, my milder defects I did prefer
to hang on to after all I was not a saint, but did become ready to aim at
spiritual perfection, I could settle for as much perfection as will get me by,
would I accept the implication of Step Six is perfection NO!
Only
step 1 can be practiced with absolute perfection the remaining steps are ideals
to live by, I did gain advantage in the use of this step on problems other than
alcohol I did venture into open-mindedness and was ready to walk in God’s
direction to a new life
I
was willing to aim toward perfection, but I'm certainly not going to hurry any
maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely, like that
was going to work, I have came to grips with most of my worst character defects
and took action to remove them
I
also learned how to forgive myself for harms done and let go of the shame I
felt, I had some great expectations for myself when I was drinking, but all
false expectations, only things Al wanted I still get emotional over the
torment and fears of looking at my past
I
did become entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character from
me, today my Ideals are not so great that I will fall short of them, with God's
help my expectations are of a God Centered life, for my family, myself, and the
my fellowship of family
Together
we can do anything with God watching over us, we live in harmony now, it’s what
Al can put into life I choose to live free from conflict also from the hurt and
pain, the program is of unselfishness love, forgiveness of others, as well as
forgiveness of myself
Every
morning I choose how I want to live, my way or Gods, loving, forgiven way,
choice is very simple today I want to tune my will into what Gods plans are for
me. The moment we say, "No, never!" our minds close against the grace
of God. Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal. This is the exact point
at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God's will for us.
God
bless you Al M
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