TOWARD EMOTIONAL FREEDOM Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 80 Willingness is a peculiar thing for me in that, over a period of time, it seems to come, first with awareness, but then with a feeling of discomfort,...
A FRAME OF REFERENCE Referring to our list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 67 There is a wonderful freedom in not needing constant approval from colleagues at work or from the people I love. I wish I had known about this Step before, because once I developed a frame of reference,...
GETTING WELL Very deep, sometimes quite forgotten, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 79-80 Only through positive action can I remove the remains of guilt and shame brought on by alcohol. Throughout my misadventures when I drank, my friends would say, "Why are you doing this? You're only hurting yourself." Little did I know how true were those words. Although I...
"I HAD DROPPED OUT" We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have "harmed" other people. What kinds of "harm" do people do one another, anyway? To define the word "harm" in a practical way, we might call it the result of instincts in collision, which cause physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual damage to people. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 80 I had been to Eighth Step meetings, always thinking, "I really...
DIDN'T WE HURT ANYBODY? Some of us, though, tripped over a very different snag. We clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 79 This Step seemed so simple. I identified several people whom I had harmed, but they were no longer available. Still, I was uneasy about the Step and avoided conversations dealing with it. In time I learned to investigate those Steps and areas of...
