About Me

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I have recovered from the disease of Alcoholism. I believe there is only one person really,.. everybody. And that peace of mind is everything. -So treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself, because your neighbor IS yourself. I think most of recovery is what I would call common sense, but that learning to be ordinary is a true gift very few people acquire. My ambition is to accept everything unflinchingly, with compassion, and therefore be intrinsically comfortable in my own skin, no matter what. I am comfortable being uncomfortable and am willing to go to any lengths to improve my life. I believe the Big Book was divinely inspired, and is extraordinarily powerful. Unfortunately AA's best kept secret a lot of the time. (In my opinion). I just try to do what works, no matter what it is.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Step 5

I do step 5 the same way with Sponsees I did it with my sponsor. 2 hour sessions weekly (sometimes more frequently) until its done. Step 5 is very cool really. Very powerful. A cool old timer called it 'Spiritual surgery'. It is! You are literally 'cutting out' the putrefied 'stinking thinking' that has accumulated over the course of lifetime. If resentment had a physical appearance It would look like like a tumor. Black sticky tar, clinging to our internal energy centers. Whatever. I digress. But basically, step 5, if done well, is VERY cool. If done well, it is a SIGNIFICANT emotional plateau of safety (in comparison to what the person was like before) when finished.

Step 4 and 5 ( for me) are not about 'life stories' as such. I get 'briefed' on the ? overall history in Step 1, so I know most of the 'stuff' LONG before step 5. Step 5 is a place to look at resentments, not personal hstory. That's all.

Did you know step 4 and 5 messes with your head? Well it does. I always suggest that Sponsees just don't try to figure anything out till AFTER step 5. It'll feel better then.

If you are in the middle of step 5, I don't want to say something that increases any sense of uncertainty, as that tends to increase anyway during step 5, so just keep plugging away and soon it will be all over.
It's best to ignore what gremlin-ish ideas it comes up with till the step5 is well and truly DONE.
The uncertainty and discomfort will pass. don't you worry..

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