Topic This week - Practicing the Principles

[caressa]

What are the principles? They often differ as you talk to other people. My sponsor and I made a list one time but have misplaced it. For example: Step One for me is "Honesty, Surrender, and Acceptance. Most people say, "Step One's principle is Honesty, but for me, it takes so much more to work this Step 100% like we are asked to.

Here are the principles that are posted on the board:

Principles of the Twelve Steps

1. Honesty2. Hope3. Faith4. Courage5. Integrity6. Willingness7. Humility8. Brotherly Love9. Self Discipline10. Perseverance11. Ever Presence of God12. Service to Fellowman,
Principles of the Twelve Traditions
1. Unity2. Direction3. Recovery4. Understanding5. Sharing6. Simplicity7. Independence8. Selflessness9. Service10. Survival11. Self Reliance12. Humility
Principles of the Twelve Concepts
1. Responsibility2. Reliance3. Trust4. Participation5. Democracy6. Accountability7. Balance8. Consistency9. Vision10. Clarity11. Respect12. Spirituality

To this list, I want to add a few of my own: Willingness, forgiveness, acceptance, surrender, open mindedness, self-acceptance and self-worth.

How do I work these principles in all my affairs?

Just now, I went to post, and realized I hadn't said my prayers. I had just woken up, and went straight to my computer. I sat here and said my morning prayers: The Serenity Prayer, The Third and Seventh Step Prayers. Then added some prayers of my own for others and asking for what I needed for my Higher Good, for my own knowingness, for what I need for my own health and well being, God's will not mine.

Having done that, I realized that before I do anything, I need to have some brunch. The tea biscuit I had at 4 a.m. not longer cut it, so I made myself peameal bacon, home fries and fried mushrooms and had a glass of Garden thingytain with it.

It is important to make that daily contact before I start my day. If I go for a nap, and wake up, it is a new start, a new set of prayers. Practicing self-care, I can't be there for someone else if I can't be there for myself. My sponsor told me to fill myself up and give away the overflow.

How do you practice the principles in all your affairs?

[BW]

The following was posted on another board and I found it to be so interesting and awesome..It struck a cord with me because it reminded me so much of a conversation I had with one of my sponsors. Out of respect for the principle of anonymity I will refrain from mentioning the author's name.


"I once asked my sponsor what the “principles” were that we were supposed to practice in all of our affairs as mentioned in step 12. He suggested that I start a list of any that I ran across in the Big Book.

I started with Honesty, Open-mindedness and willingness. I then added those found in the basic text (first 164 pages) plus those mentioned in the stories from the back of the Big Book like “Acceptance is the Answer”. My list ended up consisting of 29 principles.

Amends...8,59,69,76,84
Charity...98
Confession...25,74,77
Consciousness...98,115,130
Courage...Frwd to 2nd Edition
Faith...Fwrd1stEdition,10,14,15,16,28,46,47,49,51, 52,53,54,55,68,70,76,88,93,94,117
Forgiveness...86
Honesty...11, 26, 44, 47, 55, 57, 63, 64, 67, 83
Hope...5, 7, 18, 27, 29, 43, 44, 45, 48, 66, 71, 94, 103, 108, 132, 144, 148, 153, 162, 163
Humility...12,13,57, 59, 63, 68,73,83,88
Inventory...59,64,67,70,71,72,73,75,76,84 59,64,67,70,71,72,73,75,76,84
Love...1,10,16,21,54,56,63,83,84,105,106,107,108,1 18,119,122,124,125,127,128,153
Meditation...59, 69, 83, 85, 87,89,134,164
Open-mindedness...48
Patience...67, 70, 82, 83, 108, 111, 118, 138, 163
Peace...8, 14, 16, 50, 63, 75, 84
Prayer...Frwd to 1st Edition,36,59,67,68,69,76,84,85,86,87,105,158
Resolve...5
Sanity...7, 57, 59, 70, 84, 154 7, 57, 59, 70, 84, 154
Serenity...14, 68, 84 14, 68, 84
Service 3, 34,77,85,92,98,100,102,121,125
Sobriety...4,5,9,32,33,34,36,40,82,99,100,101,116, 118,119,127,128,129,131,139,146,152,154,156,159
Spiritual Growth...47,129
Tolerance...19, 67, 70, 83, 84, 118, 122, 125, 127, 138
Trust...68,80,98146
Truth...23, 26, 33, 64, 71, 73, 93, 98, 106, 144
Unselfishness...93, 105, 127 93, 105, 127
Willingness...12,13,26,27,28,46,47,57,58,59,60,67, 69,70,76,77,79,81,92,93,97,112,118,124,141,146,152 ,153,158,159,162,163
Wisdom...13, 77, 90, 123, 124

I then asked my sponsor if he had any lists of principles and he showed a listing he found in an old Psychology textbook. It had 105 principles, some of which were words that I never even heard of. Being the OCD type of person I am, I had to add his list to mine and ended up with 134 principles (I was so proud of myself…).

But then, much to my chagrin, I found some dirty little weeds growing in my precious lexicon garden and had to uproot them because they were dubious duplicates. But I could not stop there, I had to find out if there were any other inferior species hiding amongst the fruits of my labor. I looked up every word in the dictionary along with synonyms, hypernyms or hyponyms (did I mention I was OCD?). The more research I did, the shorter my eclectic harvest became. I even scrutinized the etymology of each word and traced some of them back to their Greek and Latin roots.

To make a long story short (less bloviate), I ended up with a pitiful list consisting of just 3 principles; humility, detachment (surrender) and benevolence. Now here is the interesting part, I had learned to think of steps 10, 11 and 12 being about humility, detachment and benevolence just prior to this investigation. Could this be a coincidence, or could there be some mystical significance to the number 3? As in 1st Cor 13:13

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity".
__________________
v
v
v
>>> I struggle - I surrender - The Truth unfolds. "


I know that we do not often talk about the "other Bigger Book", however if we were to study the history of our recovery program we would see a direct correlation to it. So I am hoping I am not offending anyone by bringing this post here with references from the other Bigger Book...

[caressa]

Awesome, thank you for sharing. When I read it I had the following thought. The greatest of all is Love. Love of Self, Love of Others, Love of God! In truth, I have it backwards. It should be God, Others, Self.

[caressa]

It came to mind, that as often as I come to te sites and read meditations, pick up the Big Book, read the meditations books I have in my desk, they mean nothing and can't help me, unless I take the words off the pages or post and apply them to my life.

Recovery is an action word. The journey from my head to my heart and sharing what I find with others along the way.

[majestyjo]

Forgot about this. A good reread. Thanks BW, we miss you here.

[caressa222]

Unless there is doubt, here is a check list.

Sorry will try to find.

[majestyjo]

Thank you. I see so little mention of them.

[caressa222]

Practice these principles in ALL our affairs. Take your program out of the rooms and practice it at home, on the job, in the community, etc.