AN EVER-GROWING FREEDOM The Seventh Step is where we make the change in our attitude which permits us, with humility as our guide, to move out from ourselves toward others and toward God. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 76 When I finally asked God to remove those things blocking me from Him and the sunlight of the Spirit, I embarked on a journey more glorious than I ever imagined. I experienced a freedom from those characteristics that...
. . . AND LETTING GO OF IT . . . primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands. The difference between a demand and a simple request is plain to anyone. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p....
IDENTIFYING FEAR . . . The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear. . . . TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 76 When I feel uncomfortable, irritated, or depressed, I look for fear. This "evil and corroding thread" is the root of my distress: Fear of failure; fear of others' opinions; fear of harm, and many other fears. I have found a Higher Power who does not want me to live in fear and, as a result, the experience of A.A....
A NEW DIRECTION Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. . . Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 45, 85 I hear talk of the "weak-willed" alcoholic, but I am one of the strongest-willed people on earth! I now know that my incredible strength of will is not enough to save my life. My problem is not one of "weakness," but...
A NATURAL FAITH . . . deep down in every man, woman and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 55 I have seen the workings of the unseen God in A.A. rooms around the country....
