Post by THE FIFTH PROMISE on Mar 1, 2004 4:12:57 GMT -5
The fifth promise seems improbable to those who are still drinking. It tells us, That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We actually do find our lives become manageable.
Before we surrendered to reality, we alcoholics considered ourselves failures. We felt inadequate, undeserving, rejected, unlucky, betrayed, and unimportant. "What's the use? Who cares?" summed up our views on life and death. Self-pity was our only solace.
Self-respect during sobriety will come slowly but steadily. We learn to be patient. The miracles of rediscovering purpose in life comes to us, if we give it time. We find the joy of living a second lifetime - one filled with caring and sharing, and love and service. As we progress from useless to purposeful living, our thinking becomes positive. We act with gratitude and humility.
Constructive thinking reveals we are always basically Twhat we think we are. When we believe ourselves failures, we are failures. When we live free of self-pity and with a positive outlook, we build our open-mindedness and our willingness for spiritual growth.
The antidote for self-pity is action. Self-pity is revealed as selfishnesss, unwarranted pride, and an unhealthy ego. Self-pity is an extension of self-absorption and leads losers to depend on "cop-outs" to explain why the program failed to work for them. Self-pitiers never grasp the truth that a recovery program has few failures, but many quitters.
We start feeling sorry for ourselves when our demands are rejected for everything on our terms. We ultimately understand that we can't work this program our way. We stop trying easier, softer ways and holding onto old ideas. Growth becomes easier after we develop a willingness to go to any length to arrive at solid sobriety.
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Not much I can add to this other than the fact that I found that people said the program didn't work for them, but what they didn't do was work for AA. Service is such a big part of growth. I found myself reflected in the people around me.
I hear people say, "Well I am only human you know" They use their humanness as a cop-out for their lack of action, instead of using it as a stepping stone to change and become a better person.
When we limit ourselves, we limit God!
Before we surrendered to reality, we alcoholics considered ourselves failures. We felt inadequate, undeserving, rejected, unlucky, betrayed, and unimportant. "What's the use? Who cares?" summed up our views on life and death. Self-pity was our only solace.
Self-respect during sobriety will come slowly but steadily. We learn to be patient. The miracles of rediscovering purpose in life comes to us, if we give it time. We find the joy of living a second lifetime - one filled with caring and sharing, and love and service. As we progress from useless to purposeful living, our thinking becomes positive. We act with gratitude and humility.
Constructive thinking reveals we are always basically Twhat we think we are. When we believe ourselves failures, we are failures. When we live free of self-pity and with a positive outlook, we build our open-mindedness and our willingness for spiritual growth.
The antidote for self-pity is action. Self-pity is revealed as selfishnesss, unwarranted pride, and an unhealthy ego. Self-pity is an extension of self-absorption and leads losers to depend on "cop-outs" to explain why the program failed to work for them. Self-pitiers never grasp the truth that a recovery program has few failures, but many quitters.
We start feeling sorry for ourselves when our demands are rejected for everything on our terms. We ultimately understand that we can't work this program our way. We stop trying easier, softer ways and holding onto old ideas. Growth becomes easier after we develop a willingness to go to any length to arrive at solid sobriety.
========================================
Not much I can add to this other than the fact that I found that people said the program didn't work for them, but what they didn't do was work for AA. Service is such a big part of growth. I found myself reflected in the people around me.
I hear people say, "Well I am only human you know" They use their humanness as a cop-out for their lack of action, instead of using it as a stepping stone to change and become a better person.
When we limit ourselves, we limit God!
. I will be back looking for Lin and others.