JohnDaniels
02-14-2008, 02:30 AM
I've heard AA called a Spiritual Program, a Living Program, a 12 Step Program, an Honest Program. I even heard a man in a prison one time call it a Million Dollar Program and we get it plugged into us a nickle and a dime at a time.
I like to call it a Program of Action, but no matter how we refer to our program, it does require action.
For me it is a Program of Action. The first initial steps did not require taking all that many actions on my part other than admitting and accepting I was an alcoholic.
From then on the steps I took required action on my part. Taking that journey inward with God and my sponsor required action. Taking that 4th and 5th step required as much honesty as I could muster up. I learned things in my inventory that I could have never learned by my own self knowledge. For example, I had previously thought I was a ladies man. Come to find out I was a pervert. Seriously, it told me that on page 69 in my Big Book.
Many of my actions were the result of learning I ought to be making some painful, yet neccessary changes.
The biggest change though came when I came to understand what selfishness was and that I had been very selfish in my past relationships. Selfishness and self centerness were the root cause of all of my problems.
Finding these truths out for me, was not intended to be used to beat myself over the head as just being worthless. Finding these truths out about myself was to allow me to change spiritually into a better man.
Making those changes would require action on my part. I could not just sit and think my way out of selfishness. For me to get away from selfishness required me to become a selfless person and there again, I could not just sit and think my way into selflessness. It required action.
Action and self discipline were things I had to learn. I began by doing things for others to make their lives better and easier even though I didn't really want to. The real kicker was that I was not allowed to tell anyone about what I did, because that would be grandstanding and that would delete the entire purpose of the exercise.
It would have done no good to perform a good deed to make someone elses life better, then to stand there and say, "Look what I did! Aren't I great?"
Taking those actions eventually became a habit, then they eventually made me feel a warmth in my bosom, and they eventually led to a personallity change on my part.
To get out of my depression also required action. I had been hospitalized on countless occasions for 3 to 6 months at a time for depression in my drinking daze. In sobriety I learned to develope an attitude of gratitude. That is because I cannot be depressed and grateful at the same time. Learning through self discipline and action, my depression eventually went away and I became a very grateful man.
Being a Program of Action, requires me to take actions even when I don't feel like taking those actions. It means speaking when I'm asked to speak even when I don't feel like speaking. It means living this thing in the real world and letting the guy in the other lane in front of me even when I don't want to. It means when my wife goes to the store I am to load that dish washer for her and not tell her I did it.
I have found as one of the results of taking those actions even when I don't want to, my wife and children began taking those actions also, just by my example. I noticed my children began having healthier and happier relationships with their friends. I noticed things around my house that I noramally did, were suddenly being done for me and nobody was taking credit for it. That is because the actions I began taking were rubbing off on my family and they too began taking actions.
I will close for now and ask you to please share your thoughts and your own experiences in your life that are a result of taking certain actions which we learn in our program.
I like to call it a Program of Action, but no matter how we refer to our program, it does require action.
For me it is a Program of Action. The first initial steps did not require taking all that many actions on my part other than admitting and accepting I was an alcoholic.
From then on the steps I took required action on my part. Taking that journey inward with God and my sponsor required action. Taking that 4th and 5th step required as much honesty as I could muster up. I learned things in my inventory that I could have never learned by my own self knowledge. For example, I had previously thought I was a ladies man. Come to find out I was a pervert. Seriously, it told me that on page 69 in my Big Book.
Many of my actions were the result of learning I ought to be making some painful, yet neccessary changes.
The biggest change though came when I came to understand what selfishness was and that I had been very selfish in my past relationships. Selfishness and self centerness were the root cause of all of my problems.
Finding these truths out for me, was not intended to be used to beat myself over the head as just being worthless. Finding these truths out about myself was to allow me to change spiritually into a better man.
Making those changes would require action on my part. I could not just sit and think my way out of selfishness. For me to get away from selfishness required me to become a selfless person and there again, I could not just sit and think my way into selflessness. It required action.
Action and self discipline were things I had to learn. I began by doing things for others to make their lives better and easier even though I didn't really want to. The real kicker was that I was not allowed to tell anyone about what I did, because that would be grandstanding and that would delete the entire purpose of the exercise.
It would have done no good to perform a good deed to make someone elses life better, then to stand there and say, "Look what I did! Aren't I great?"
Taking those actions eventually became a habit, then they eventually made me feel a warmth in my bosom, and they eventually led to a personallity change on my part.
To get out of my depression also required action. I had been hospitalized on countless occasions for 3 to 6 months at a time for depression in my drinking daze. In sobriety I learned to develope an attitude of gratitude. That is because I cannot be depressed and grateful at the same time. Learning through self discipline and action, my depression eventually went away and I became a very grateful man.
Being a Program of Action, requires me to take actions even when I don't feel like taking those actions. It means speaking when I'm asked to speak even when I don't feel like speaking. It means living this thing in the real world and letting the guy in the other lane in front of me even when I don't want to. It means when my wife goes to the store I am to load that dish washer for her and not tell her I did it.
I have found as one of the results of taking those actions even when I don't want to, my wife and children began taking those actions also, just by my example. I noticed my children began having healthier and happier relationships with their friends. I noticed things around my house that I noramally did, were suddenly being done for me and nobody was taking credit for it. That is because the actions I began taking were rubbing off on my family and they too began taking actions.
I will close for now and ask you to please share your thoughts and your own experiences in your life that are a result of taking certain actions which we learn in our program.