Daily Reflections reading August
5th
Listening Deeply
How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves just what we shall think and just how we shall act. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 37
If I accept and act upon the advice of those who have made the program work for themselves, I have a chance to outgrow the limits of the past. Some problems will shrink to nothingness, while others may require patient, well-thought-out action. Listening deeply when others share can develop intuition in handling problems which arise unexpectedly. It is usually best for me to avoid impetuous action. Attending a meeting or calling a fellow A.A. member will usually reduce tension enough to bring relief to a desperate sufferer like me. Sharing problems at meetings with other alcoholics to whom I can relate, or privately with my sponsor, can change aspects of the positions in which I find myself. Character defects are identified and I begin to see how they work against me. When I put my faith in the spiritual power of the program, when I trust others to teach me what I need to do to have a better life, I find that I can trust myself to do what is necessary.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My thoughts on August 5th Reading
Step three is to understand that NOTHING
HAPPENS except the decision the we "make a decision" between living
in the problem step one and finding a power that will solve our problem step
two The only thing left is putting that decision into action working steps four
thru nine, the action steps
Subconsciously I thought I had turned my
life and will over to God in this step three and I did not really have to do
steps four thru nine RIGHT!! That is
what happens when I think if it were true that I could actually turn my will
over in step three there would be no need to do any more steps
But emotionally, I still wanted to
decide, what I think is right and how to act upon any situations coming up
after all I weigh the pros and cons of every problem, I listen to my sponsors
advise, but all the decisions are mine
Nobody was going to meddle in my
business, after all I still was in control of the universe there was no one I
trusted, my willpower, can control what I am going to do, Yes I sure was
playing God with my life let will power is what got me into the halls
If I do the steps of making an inventory,
talking to someone about it, becoming ready, asking God to remove my character
defects, make a list of harms done, and then be willing to making the amends
then I know I have put into effect the decision I made in step three
I have taken the necessary actions to
turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I now understand him, the
God of unconditional love and forgiveness, who has relieved me of the bondage
of self and has now removed the desire to drink for me
My experience tells me when I cannot
understand something, it is simple because I have some fears and misgivings to
that understanding, usually a fear so great that it prevents me from understanding
I know today it was false fear of changing something, or using that will power
again
What is reassuring about the third step,
making this program of recovery so awesome, is that I am free to choose who
this God of my understanding is, He does not have to meet anyone else’s
requirements, or expectations of what God is, except my own of love and
forgiveness
God who has never left me, always
sustained me, comforted me, and made my life able to be lived with out the
guilt, shame, remorse of a past, of selfishly using my free will, instead of
turning my will over to Him, He is my Higher Power and may not be the same as
yours, that’s OK
During my time in this program I have met
many people who have all different kinds of Higher Powers, some were agnostics
and atheists, some found their personal Higher Power to be Nature and their
"church" or Just being around a tree-studded yard with beautiful
flowers
When I talk of God I am not talking about religion, the two
subjects I could never write about in my journal of recovery, are religion and
politics, religion to me is not God, and God is not religion, God is what I
perceive that makes my life come together and gives meaning to it.
Once I had come into agreement with these ideas, it was really
easy to begin the practice of Step Three, In all times of emotional disturbance
or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say:
"God grant me the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to
know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."
God bless you Al M
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suggestions or comments
