Archive for the ‘Fearless Moral Inventory’ tag
An Agnostics 12-step
I am about going to enter a 12-step inpatient program to deal with a drinking problem. I had a lot of difficulty with the 12-step program because the 12-steps stated the word "God". I just rewrote the steps to exclude the "God" and replace it with the word "spiritual philosophy" and I used removed the word "prayer" because my programs does not rely on personal divinity.
So here it is:
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 to a spiritual philosophy that is beyond ourself.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready for our spiritual philosohy to remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings (Step 7 is skipped because it relies on divinity model).
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became 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 meditation to improve our selves through our spiritual philosophy and that it will allow us 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 alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
So here it is:
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 to a spiritual philosophy that is beyond ourself.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready for our spiritual philosohy to remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings (Step 7 is skipped because it relies on divinity model).
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became 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 meditation to improve our selves through our spiritual philosophy and that it will allow us 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 alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
scared of my fourth step
i am about to begin work on my fourth step, but i gotta admit the idea scares the hell outta me! i attempted this step at my rehab about 2 years ago but cannot say that i was entirely honest (since i was sharing this assignment with counselors and my parents, i left a great deal out). i feel that if i am going to continue working my steps, a searching and fearless moral inventory is necessary. so here i am, wondering how to do this the RIGHT way. i am very afraid of the emotions that i know will come up and having to come to terms with myself and many of the things i've done. i would appreciate any words of wisdom you can spare.
Greatest enemies of alcoholics are…….
What are the greatest enemies of the alcoholic?
Do you agree with what the Big Book says about the alcoholic's greatest enemy in the chapter To Employers?
What has your experience been in dealing with these enemies?
How do we as recovering alcoholics deal with these enemies?
What Steps do you feel help relieve these enemies in your life?
What do you do when faced with these things in your day to day life?
My thoughts and experience with these enemies is that I have specific tools for dealing with these troubles.
The Third Step does much to alleviate my feelings of frustration.
By deciding to turn my will and life over to the care of my HP, my frustration with troubles in my life are eased because I no longer need to worry about how I am going to run my life. All I need to do is keep it simple by putting one foot in front of the other, apply the Steps in all aspects of my life, and trust that my HP will lead me in the direction I am supposed to go.
The Fourth Step taught me how to deal successfully with resentment and fear.
By making a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself I am able to face the things that I have feared and kept hidden for so long; allowing them to eat away at my soul and build into resentments toward others. Rather like taking a poison to punish someone for what "they did to me" when all the while they likely have no clue they "did anything" at all. The inventory frees me from those fears by bringing them into the light of day and taking the power out of them. I no longer need to hide as I am able to identify my part in the things that fed my resentments and fears releasing their hold on me. When I do this on a daily basis I prevent new resentments from building which allows me to live in this life without fear of being found out, being hurt, etc...
I find relief from jealousy and envy in steps Seven and Nine.
When I approach my HP in a humble manner and ask that I be relieved of my shortcomings I concentrate on my part in life, my side of the street. When I am concerned and taking care of my side of the street I don't have time to worry about what someone else has which in turn helps to prevent jealousy and envy from building.
The humbling experience of making direct amends to those I have injured helps prevent my ego's ugly head from rearing. When my ego gets out of hand, I stop concentrating on what the next right thing for me to do is and start worrying about what others "aren't doing" that I think they should be doing. This allows jealousy and envy to arise as I start to feel that others have things I do not feel they deserve or that I deserve more. When I actively work these steps in my life I am able to keep myself centered on what my part in life and any problems leaving no room for me to get caught up in what others are doing.
Do you agree with what the Big Book says about the alcoholic's greatest enemy in the chapter To Employers?
What has your experience been in dealing with these enemies?
How do we as recovering alcoholics deal with these enemies?
What Steps do you feel help relieve these enemies in your life?
What do you do when faced with these things in your day to day life?
Quote:
|
The greatest enemies of we alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear. (from the chapter To Employers) |
My thoughts and experience with these enemies is that I have specific tools for dealing with these troubles.
The Third Step does much to alleviate my feelings of frustration.
By deciding to turn my will and life over to the care of my HP, my frustration with troubles in my life are eased because I no longer need to worry about how I am going to run my life. All I need to do is keep it simple by putting one foot in front of the other, apply the Steps in all aspects of my life, and trust that my HP will lead me in the direction I am supposed to go.
The Fourth Step taught me how to deal successfully with resentment and fear.
By making a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself I am able to face the things that I have feared and kept hidden for so long; allowing them to eat away at my soul and build into resentments toward others. Rather like taking a poison to punish someone for what "they did to me" when all the while they likely have no clue they "did anything" at all. The inventory frees me from those fears by bringing them into the light of day and taking the power out of them. I no longer need to hide as I am able to identify my part in the things that fed my resentments and fears releasing their hold on me. When I do this on a daily basis I prevent new resentments from building which allows me to live in this life without fear of being found out, being hurt, etc...
I find relief from jealousy and envy in steps Seven and Nine.
When I approach my HP in a humble manner and ask that I be relieved of my shortcomings I concentrate on my part in life, my side of the street. When I am concerned and taking care of my side of the street I don't have time to worry about what someone else has which in turn helps to prevent jealousy and envy from building.
The humbling experience of making direct amends to those I have injured helps prevent my ego's ugly head from rearing. When my ego gets out of hand, I stop concentrating on what the next right thing for me to do is and start worrying about what others "aren't doing" that I think they should be doing. This allows jealousy and envy to arise as I start to feel that others have things I do not feel they deserve or that I deserve more. When I actively work these steps in my life I am able to keep myself centered on what my part in life and any problems leaving no room for me to get caught up in what others are doing.
