THE PAST IS OVER A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If . . . Step Four . . .has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember . . . then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55...
A NEW SENSE OF BELONGING Until we had talked with complete candor of our conflicts, and had listened to someone else do the same thing, we still didn't belong. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 57 After four years in A.A. I was able to discover the freedom from the burden of buried emotions that had caused me so much pain. With the help of A.A., and extra counseling, the pain was released and I felt a complete sense of belonging and peace....
FREE AT LAST Another great dividend we may expect from confiding our defects to another human being is humility – a word often misunderstood. . . . it amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58 I knew deep inside that if I were ever to be joyous, happy and free, I had to share my past life with some other individual. The joy...
WALKING THROUGH FEAR If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76 When I had taken my Fifth Step, I became aware that all my defects of character stemmed from my need to feel secure and loved. To use my will alone to work on them would have been trying obsessively to solve the problem. In the Sixth Step I intensified the action I had taken in the first three Steps – meditating...
A RESTING PLACE All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55 After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to talk about them, and decided it was time to stop carrying...
