Step Five
"Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
Having made our personal
inventory, what shall
we do about it? We have been trying to get a new
attitude, a new relationship with our Creator, and to discover
the obstacles in our path. We have admitted certain
defects; we have ascertained in a rough way what
the trouble is; we have put our finger on the weak times
in our personal inventory. Now these are about to be
cast out. This requires action on our part, which, when
completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to
ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature
of our defects. This brings us to the Fifth Step in the
program of recovery mentioned in the preceding chapter.
This is
perhaps difficult -- especially discussing our
defects with another person. We think we have done
well enough in admitting these things to ourselves. There
is doubt about that. In actual practice, we usually find a
solitary self-appraisal insufficient. Many of us thought
it necessary to go much further. We will be more reconciled
to discussing ourselves with another person
when we see good reasons why we should do so. The
best reason first: If we skip this vital step, we may
not overcome drinking. Time after time newcomers
have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about
their lives. Trying to avoid this humbling experience,
they have turned to easier methods. Almost invariably they got drunk.
Having persevered with the
rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We
think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning.
They took inventory all right, but hung on to
some of the worst items in stock. They only thought
they had lost their egoism and fear; they only thought
they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned
enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense
we find it necessary, until they told someone else all
their life story.
We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every
twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once
we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are
delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be
alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us.
We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may
have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to
have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink
problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We
feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand
with the Spirit of the Universe.
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