Daily Reprieve

Courage to Change of Jun 9:

When my study of the Steps reached Step Seven (“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings”), I stumbled on the very first word. “Humble!” I thought, “The last thing I need is to be more humble.” Hadn’t I been humble all my life, putting everyone’s needs ahead of my own? What had it ever brought me except abuse?

But Al-Anon suggested that perhaps I had confused humility with humiliation. Humility does not mean begging for mercy. Real humility, I discovered, is the ability to see my true relationship to God and to my fellow human beings.

The second word wasn’t much easier. I had learned not to ask anyone for anything. Al-Anon showed that my knowledge and experience are limited. I don’t know all the answers – and I don’t have to know them! I can ask for help.

My concept of the last word has also changed. I used to think of shortcomings as crimes, faults, sins, or mistakes. Now I think of them as blocks within me that prevent me from reaching my full potential and distance me from my Higher Power.

Today’s Reminder

There are many things that I can do to improve my life and to further my recovery, but I cannot heal myself. Today I can ask for help in becoming free of all that blocks me from my true self.

END OF QUOTE—————————————

Step 7 – Humbly asked Him, the God of our understanding, to remove our shortcomings.

Alternative versions of the Seventh Step minus humility:

Step 7 – Impatiently told the God of our understanding to get His ass over here and remove our shortcomings.

Step 7 – Expectantly allowed God to review our self-appraisal and remove the shortcomings we have identified.

Step 7 – Resentfully asked God to remove His own shortcomings of neglectful detachment and blood magic.

Step 7 – Apathetically told God our shortcomings and their elimination are His job and not ours.

Step 7 – Despairingly asked God to remove our emotions and transform us into automatons.

Step 7 – Fearfully asked God to print out a blueprint of self-transformation and cheer us on as we prevent social criticism.

Humility activates the magic of connection and is necessary to embrace the truth of my situation. For me, this Step touches on the one aspect of this program that gives us permission to seek out the loving supernatural of something greater than myself, that truly seems to care about my life and our Fellowship. It is the beginning of seeking conscious contact with My Higher Power.

This entry was posted on July 18, 2024 at 7:42 am and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Courage to Change, depression, health, inspiration, Journal, Life, mental-health, motivation, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.