Often I have to go back and be reminded and think about why I am here. I know that I’m here to stay sober one day at a time. That’s just part of it. What I was thinking about today was what it is that helps to keep me here. And that, even though it started in the First Step, when I turned my alcoholism over to my Higher Power, I know that it really came home within me in the Second Step; a spiritual life I need to live and a personal relationship with my Higher Power.<\/p>\n
However I discovered, with the help of my sponsor and those old timers, that I had to step back from what I thought I knew, and then to learn what it is I really need to know to grow along the lines in the Big Book, the 12&12, and what many wrote and talked about in here. I also learned that I had to get rid of much of my “thinking”, like my negative emotions, and other old forms of my thoughts, which I discovered came in with me from what was on my mind and in my way of life back then.<\/p>\n
I remember the person, who once told me that I had to begin to grow in hope, faith, and love–charity and compassion. I also had to learn to begin to think in a very logical way, avoiding emotions as much as I could. That’s when I began to grow from listening to my old sponsor and others like him. The Steps began to help me to throw a lot of things within me into the past. Not to drag them into my new life with me.<\/p>\n
I had to grow in thinking logically, but also spiritually. And part of this was about learning to step back and begin to learn how to grow in humility. And all this was with those steady members in here. I had to develop friendships, to care and become close to all those, who helped me. I have learned how to be open and willing to share and to receive sharing with me.<\/p>\n
I always have to stop and think about those lines in the Ninth Step in the BB, which state that the “Spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.” And that always leads me to stop and think of what it is I need to do. And that’s to help others like myself, and to be open to helping alcoholics to get sober. But to also remember the Serenity Prayer…to accept the things I cannot change. And that’s everyone. The only person I can change is within me, and that’s with the help of my Higher Power and others like myself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Often I have to go back and be reminded and think about why I am here. I know that I’m here to stay sober one day at a time. That’s just part of it. What I was thinking about today was what it is that helps to keep me here. And that, even though it … <\/p>\n