Hello, welcome back. Now as you know, we’re going into step 10, and I’m so glad that you’re still with us with making our way through and hope is giving some clarity to the 12 Steps step 10, as you know says that we continued to take personal inventory and when we were and when we were wrong promptly admitted it promptly admitted it, you know, one of the things that I’ve learned since come coming into a 12-step program.
Is the fact that the addiction never was my problem my primary problem. The diction never really was my problem. The diction was a symptom of my problem. You see if a person goes to the doctor with a headache every week. They have a headache a headache a headache. The headache is not their problem a tumor may be their problem allergy may be their problem. I mean, there are numerous things that could be the problem. The headache is really notifying them of the problem paying.
Is a great gift from God and some sort of pain itself notifies us of the fact that we are hurt that we have a problem people who don’t have pain can die without even knowing they’re dead as usual joke, but what I’m saying, is that the pain if you burn your hand and you don’t have any nerve endings in it, then you won’t even know you’re burning it. God has given us the gift of pain and pain itself is just a symptom of the problem. The problem is much deeper.
/ well, I found out that in addiction addiction is a symptom of the problem. The real problem is our disconnection from other people and our disconnection from our higher power and the hole that’s in now Soul. You see we have a hole in our soul that only the higher power can fill the higher power has given us a vacuum that only the higher power can feel and that’s that’s how problem I believe as human beings and we break out with symptoms in our diction alcohol.
Drugs are sets of holism over eating all kinds of symptoms of the number one problem.
And so it’s just a symptom of our problem when we get into step 10. We at the point now that we know that more is wrong with us than the fact that we drink or smoke dope. Now, we understand that there are some underlying issues and that they will need to be looked at on a continual basis and so step 10 says we continued to take personal inventory. You see recovery is a lifelong journey spirituality is a lifelong journey. It’s something we
You for the rest of our life, we continue to take personal inventory and when wrong we admitted it many people have a little sheets that they use to take personal inventory every day. They look at it and say where have I been unkind today? Where have I been impatient today? Where have I stretched the truth today spoken in hyperbola, where have I been selfish today? Where was I not a listener today when a person needed a shoulder to cry on
They go through their inventory every day. They take a personal inventory. You may want something that formal. I suggested. I’m sure it’s very helpful other people don’t do it in such a formal way, but they recognize again from their feelings when they need to do something about this situation alcoholics and addicts have found that some of the feelings that cause us great problems underlying issues that we may have is self-pity. Somebody said pour me pour me pour me a drink.
Addicts and alcoholics 10 to go into self-pity quite quickly and that can be a road to relapse. So as we take our inventory, we watch out for self-pity. When am I thinking that everybody’s against me and I’m victimized and I’m being put down and I should have more than I have today and I should be further along than I am now self-pity rather than gratitude self-pity can be a big problem the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous talks about
Isn’t it says resentment? Maybe the is the number one offender resentment has caused numerous people to relapse and to begin addictive behavior again resentment is dangerous for addicts. The big book says it’s the dubious luxury of other people dubious means a question questionable luxury, but it’s not a luxury that I can stand and perhaps you may not be able to stay and resentment has caused many people to relapse or
Do your inventory you will be looking for things like self-pity and resentment and anger lust nobody can tell you how I’ll be an arbitrator of your sexual behavior. You have to deal with your sexual behavior with your higher power your own morals your own believe your own values, but sex has caused a lot of people to relapse in the way they think about it and the way they deal with some people don’t even think they can have sex in the right way unless they hi some people can’t
Have sex in the way they used to have sex because they were selfishly having sex and didn’t really care about the other person to person was just an object. So that’s something that maybe you may have to deal with as you take your personal inventory. It’s a personal inventory and you will see patterns again as you look back on your fourth step. You will see certain patterns in your life certain things in your in your steps that you need to work on and watch out for continue to take personal inventory and when want
All probably admitted it and the reason for promptly admitting it is because those very things can cause us to get into insane thinking again and the insane thinking sooner or later. He’s going to trigger that little thing in out here and say, oh, I think I can just do this one time. I think I can take just one. We have found that self-pity resentment hatred anger selfishness.
Selfishness is the root of our problem. So if we’re not involved in as they say giving it away to keep it or helping other people then once again, we may be isolating and find ourselves headed towards relapse to continually take a personal inventory is very important. Some people say they go back and take all these steps over and over and over that may be beneficial but we’re talking about this is a maintenance steps a maintenance step. Some people say well how long you got to go to those meetings? Well, how long do you have to
You ate yesterday. You want to eat today? Don’t you? How long do you have to pray? How long do you have to pray? I mean some things you have to do? Continually. It’s a maintenance step and spirituality just seems to be one of those things. You can’t get one time. I hold onto it, you know spirituality is not static spirituality is not something that now I’m a spiritual Giant and I always be a spiritual job. I mean, even if you look back in the big big book of 1 / some other spiritual literature, you’ll see that Giants have
Problems Muhammad had some problems. Okay. David has some serious loss issues and murdered. Somebody Moses had a problem with anger. Okay, you see those Father Abraham had a problem with lying. Okay, you see those problems with the so-called Giants of spirituality. Don’t you think you and I may have a couple of little things to work on and so we take continually take a personal inventory because we need to prompt
Admit some things when we do wrong. It makes for a better family life family life. It makes for better employment life. It makes for a better conscience and we want to clear conscience so that we have a Clear Channel with our higher power. So we promptly admitted other people might go around and they can have a resentment for a month two months or year. They may enjoy the so-called power. They feel holding onto that resentment. But for me, that’s a dubious luxury the resentment may cause me to actually end up dead.
Dead or in jail or in some institution. Excuse me. You want to resentment here take it you can have mine. Ha ha ha. I don’t want it no more here. Take it take the recipient take the self-pity. Take the line. Take the impatient Nest take to take it all take go ahead. Take it. You can have it as I take my inventory every day. I’m going to offer it up to my hi pal and every day when I need to promptly admit it. I’m gonna do it because I enjoy just life of sobriety that I have today. Thank you very much.