Endigar 570 ~ A Spiritual Axiom
From the Daily Reflections of October 9;
It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 90)
I never truly understood the Tenth Step’s spiritual axiom until I had the following experience. I was sitting in my bedroom, reading into the wee hours, when suddenly I heard my dogs barking in the back yard. My neighbors frown on this kind of disturbance so, with mixed feelings of anger and shame, as well as fear of my neighbors’ disapproval, I immediately called in my dogs. Several weeks later the exact situation repeated itself but this time, because I was feeling more at peace with myself, I was able to accept the situation—dogs will bark—and I calmly called in the dogs. Both incidents taught me that when a person experiences nearly identical events and reacts two different ways, then it is not the event which is of prime importance, but the person’s spiritual condition. Feelings come from inside,not from outward circumstances. When my spiritual condition is positive, I react positively.
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It is dangerous to stay in my head when I am disturbed. Ruminating over my depressive feelings entraps me. The alcoholic disease wraps around the paralysis of analysis. I hope that I can let the disturbance signal that action needs to be taken. I embrace the pragmatic and progressive morality of AA rather than the damning pursuit of perfectionism. Recognizing that my disturbance is a warning flag for internal issues is a very useful spiritual axiom.
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Daily Reprieve 
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