During the night I dreamed about the 3rd Step. Like all dreams it was full of characters I have no idea who they were. Crazy in a sense, but nevertheless, when I awoke I had a nagging feeling about this step.
So, I sat and thought about this step. What was this all about? Not that I’m trying to say I had some kind of message coming through, but just that it was something I thought I should pay attention to. No, I was thinking about the role this step plays in my life everyday. And it does have a part in my staying sober.
I hear people say that they begin their day by saying the 3rd Step prayer. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. But always I try to remind myself to ask God to give me the strength to do his will. And all I know about his will, or think I do, is not to drink today. The rest is to just live this day in as sober a manner as I am able. To practice these principles in all of my affairs. And at the end of the day to check it out. Ooops. I shouldn’t have done that or said that or thought that. Another imperfect, but sober day.
I guess, for me, it’s culmination, is when I pause and try to seek through prayer and meditation a conscious contact with God, seeking only knowledge of his will for me (us), and the power to carry that out. Imperfectly I attempt to do this. But the 3rd Step doesn’t end there. It’s in the 12th where I believe it’s goal is, and that to me is what it’s all about.
If I really want to “work” that step, it’s about ego deflation in depth. It’s about thinking or doing something which will relieve me of the bondage of self. That means including someone else in my life besides me. Working with another alcoholic. Talking to another alcoholic. Praying for someone else. Thinking of someone else, other than me.
For me that often is in practicing these principles in all of my affairs.
Not an easy task, because it means stepping around the hazards of living and working with others. Getting along with others. Keeping my mouth shut and minding my own business. It’s the Serenity Prayer. “Knowing” what my part is and what’s God’s. My problem is that I’m often so unconscious, I forget and have to scramble to make up for my mistakes. I often find I was only thinking about myself.
All this doesn’t take into account all the things about me, which make up my day. My thinking, my feelings and emotions, aches and pains, and a whole list of factors, which draw my attention back to me. But, if at the end of the day, as my sponsor used to point out to me, if I haven’t taken a drink, I have had a good day.
Anyway, I was thinking about these things today.