Often times I am reminded to go back and remember sentences or phrases from the BB and 12&12, which have proved invaluable to me along the way, as I walk this path in sober living.
For instance, one that jumps out to me right away is, The spiritual life is not a theory: We have to live it. Boy, does that get my attention. What a reminder.
Another is from the story Freedom From Bondage, where she says something to the effect, that she doesn’t always get what she wants, but gets everything she needs in AA. And when she gets what she needs she finds it’s what she wanted all along. That certainly holds true for me. Everytime I’m tempted to complain about this or that, I need to go back to that thought and be grateful for all that has been given to me through this program.
This is the acid test, Bill says in the 12&12: Can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions? He’s right. The acid test. I have found that practicing these spiritual principles, reaching out to others, and relying on the God of my understanding, yes, I can. That’s not bragging. It’s a fact and comes from my experience.
And, of course, one of the most telling sentences comes from the 10th Step in the 12&12. Whenever we’re disturbed there is something wrong with us. The spiritual axiom. Has that ever been a life saver and gotten me out of a lot of bad places. Of course it’s true. I add to my problems, when I think it’s all someone else’s fault that such and such is going on in my life.
It’s hard to face the truth about myself, but if I want to stay sober, I have to do an inventory and look at the role I play. Being disturbed, as Sandy B. says, is unspiritual. Not being disturbed is spiritual.
There are many many more, which have helped me along the way in staying sober. One I know has been of great help has to do with pain. The line that pain is the touchstone of all spritual growth. The fact that the word “all” is in that statement, and not “some” tells me that. After all, it was pain that drove me here and that was just the beginning. There have been many occasions, when I brought pain into my own life, through balking at the next steps, or some other stalling technique I could dream up, not to continue to go forward. Unwillingness to make the necessary changes in my life to move on has always brought me pain. Yet, when I became willing I got what I needed, and found, like the woman said, it’s what I wanted all along.
Anyway, I was reminded of this today, when I went back and listened to the voices of others.