"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these
steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these
principles in all our affairs."
TWELVE STEPS
AND
TWELVE TRADITIONS
STEP TWELVE (p. 106)
The joy of living is the theme of
A.A.'s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word. Here we turn outward toward
our fellow alcoholics who are still in distress. Here we experience the kind of
giving that asks for no rewards. Here we begin to practice all Twelve Steps of
the program in our daily lives so that we and those about us may find emotional
sobriety. When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really
talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it.
~
In
truth, I experienced a spiritual awakening upon putting aside the bottle and
the bindle. That was how I awoke to the first three steps. I had no idea at the
time what I was in for but a door was opened through which my whole outlook on
life changed. Those feelings of failure and despair dissolved like sugar in
warm water as I proceeded to mend relationships… relationships with myself;
with my Higher Power; and with my fellow human beings. Now, as my instincts
improve and the light of joy illuminates and restores my spirit, I can't
hide it. Taking what I found to others I found that I had to improve my
communication skills. I had to become tolerant and nonjudgmental if I were to
be able to pass it on. These areas were new territory for me so I have had to
focus on listening instead of preaching, of reaching out with my experience
rather than forcing my opinions on unwilling victims and, most of all, to stay
in conscious contact with the Heart of Compassion…and never… never ever
forgetting that I am only an arm's length from that Jack Daniels I left on the
bar so many one-day-at-a-time ago.
geo 4,833
No comments:
Post a Comment