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February 24 - February 24, 2018
gluttony
comfort.”
As Bill Sees It, p. 100.
e...
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And greed: I want more!
looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of adjusting to the fact, and accepting it?
And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on—only we call that “retiring.”
Is this bad? Defense mechanism of sublimation: no one acts *purely* out of altruism.
procrastination,
obliged to admit that they prefer to hang on to some of them. Therefore, it seems plain that few of us can quickly or easily become ready to aim at spiritual and moral perfection; we want to settle for only as much perfection as will get us by in life, according, of course, to our various and sundry ideas of what will get us by.
So the difference between “the boys and the men” is the difference between striving for a self-determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of God.
Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.
problems other than alcohol,
ready to walk
The moment we say, “No, never!” our minds close against the grace of God.
Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal.
1/2/16, January 2019 w/ James Demus, September 2019 for As Bill Sees Pitt (pp. 139), December 2019 and April 2020 with Bryan Bass-Riley, March 18, 2021 with Adam Bennett,
humility
Indeed, the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of A.A.’s Twelve Steps.
For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can ...
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unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven’t muc...
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Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith...
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Ha!
security, prestige, and romance.
succeeding,
frust...
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Never was ther...
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material satisfactions were not the purpose of living.
obviously good character was something one needed to get on with the business of being self-satisfied.
whenever we had to choose between character and comfort,
honesty, tolerance, and true love of man and God
the answer to everything wrong with the world today (Russ R.)
we were convinced that we could live exclusively by our own individual strength and intelligence,
As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question.
That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God’s will, was missing.
As Bill Sees It, p. 139
gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true freedom of the human spirit,
A whole lifetime geared to self-centeredness cannot be set in reverse all at once.
Rebellion dogs
When we have finally admitted without reservation that we are powerless over alcohol, we are apt to breathe a great sigh of relief, saying, “Well, thank God that’s over! I’ll never have to go through that again!” Then we learn, often to our consternation, that this is only the first milestone on the new road we are walking. Still goaded by sheer necessity, we reluctantly come to grips with those serious character flaws that made problem ...
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But when we have taken a square look at some of these defects, have discussed them with another, and have become willing to have them removed, our thinking about humility commences to have a wider meaning.
there is something like real peace of mind.
To those of us who have hitherto known only excitement, depression, or anxiety—in other words, to all of us—this newfound peace is a priceless gift.
our lives have been largely devoted to running from pain and problems.
we looked and listened.
humility had brought strength out of weakness. In every case, pain had been the price of admission into a new life.
The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate.
Cf. John 14:10
As Bill Sees It, p. 66
We saw we needn’t always be bludgeoned and beaten into humility. It could come quite as much from our voluntary reaching for it as it could from unremitting suffering.
As we approach the actual taking of Step Seven, it might be well if we A.A.’s inquire once more just what our deeper objectives are.
we have been making unreasonable demands upon ourselves, upon others, and upon God.
The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear—primarily
Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration.
