Drop the Rock, the Ripple Effect by Fred H

Author:Fred H.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781616496050
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing
Published: 2016-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

Suppose that you wake up on a Sunday morning and review your plan for the day. As part of working this part of Step Eleven, you also review your emotions around each part of the plan. Okay, we’re going to have breakfast and read the paper. Nice. We’ll also do some chores around the house. It’ll be good to get those done. Then I have to write that report for our Monday morning meeting at work. Crap. I don’t want to. Not on a Sunday.

Because you’re observing your own emotions, you can see immediately that you’re feeling positive, sustainable emotions about everything except the report. You’re feeling some resentment about that. But because you immediately recognize that resentment, you don’t have to go through the day feeling resentful. You have other choices. You can remind yourself that the resentment is a form of self-interest, and let go of it—or ask God to take it from you. You can write the report right after breakfast. By getting it out of the way, you can spare yourself (and your partner) your resentment all day.

When an emotion, thought, or impulse arises, you can also ask yourself this question: Is following this likely to bring me peace of mind? With some self-examination, the answer will usually be quite clear. We’re never baffled for too long in distinguishing self-will from the will of our Higher Power. When we’re attracted to an unbalanced or unsustainable activity, we’ll sense that it’s not right. We’ll recoil in guilt or distaste or unease. That is all the information we need.

We ignore this information at our peril. One of the greatest missteps in long-term sobriety is having clear insight into what’s right and what’s not—and then ignoring that insight.

Our self-observation throughout the day leads us, naturally and seamlessly, into Step Eleven: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” The book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions describes this transition beautifully—and makes a solemn promise to us—on page 98:

There is a direct linkage among self-examination [Step Ten], meditation, and prayer [Step Eleven]. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life.

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