Links

Join

Forums

Find Help

Recovery Readings

Spiritual Meditations

Chat

Contact


Go Back   Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums > Alcohol, Drugs and Other Addictions Recovery > 12 Steps and 12 Traditions

Share This Forum!  
 
        

12 Steps and 12 Traditions Information and Discussions related to the 12 Steps and The 12 Traditions

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 07-06-2014, 12:54 PM   #1
MajestyJo
Super Moderator
 
MajestyJo's Avatar
 

Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Hamilton, ON
Posts: 25,085
Default Taking Our Inventory

No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.

—James Russell Lowell

For so many years, I looked outside of myself for the answers, for the validation and acceptance of who I was. I could not find it within myself. That is because I wasn't able or willing to look.

My disease made me act selfish and self-centered. Yet, I had no concept of self-care. In order to recover, I had to put my life into the care of my God. In order to recover, I had to find out who my God was to me. I had to find out who I was to God.

My God gave me freedom of choice. He gives me forgiveness and unconditional love. I had to learn to find these things within me.

It isn't about what other people did or did to me; it is about my actions and what I did to myself and others.

It was necessary to take an inventory to see what was there, how can I change something if I don't know what I had accumulated along the way, what I had let go of, and what was never there and needed to be added and what needed to be taken away or changed in a way that was conducive to good recovery.

My first thought was that I was alright, now I had put the plug in the jug, I was just fine. And then I remembered that fine mean, frustrated, insecure, neurotic and emotional. A friend took my inventory for me, I went home and added more to this list and then my sponsor said, 'Now find something positive to balance it out, because there is goodness there too. That was the hard part.

I was told, "What you see in others, is within you. It takes one to know one. If you see positive or negative, it is a reflection of yourself. The people are your mirror." Some days I want to hang a curtain over that mirror. Other days, the mirror is fogged up, and I am not ready to see what is being reflected back at me. Eventually, I see and then I have to get honest. Honest with me, self-honesty, the person who I lied to for so many years.

My sponsor and spiritual adviser always said, "Look who you are point a finger at if you really want to know what you need to work on."

How to find a good friend? Be one!

I was told if I was fearful of taking an inventory, I should go back to Step 3 before I continued with Step 4.

But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and unbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting; for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

- James I: 5-8


The only way to find true help and support is to take things to my Higher Power. If you don't have a sponsor, perhaps you have a clergyman you can go to, a long time friend, an Elder, a counsellor, etc. It is important to look at what is there, so you know what to change and/or what you need to nurture, and/or build something new that was never there before.

Turn things over and leave them there, walk in faith.

This could be a rerun, I have posted so much I forget or lose track.

They say to take a fearless inventory, take a leap of faith.

__________________

Love always,

Jo

I share because I care.



Last edited by MajestyJo; 07-06-2014 at 12:57 PM. Reason: edit
MajestyJo is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Post New ThreadReply  

Bookmarks


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 2 (0 members and 2 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Taking Care Of Yourself bluidkiti Daily Spiritual Meditations 1 04-06-2014 01:45 PM
Taking A Respite bluidkiti Daily Spiritual Meditations 1 02-01-2014 01:57 PM
Step 11 Inventory Questions To Be Asked At Night bluidkiti 12 Steps and 12 Traditions 0 11-01-2013 10:25 AM
Group Inventory Format bluidkiti 12 Steps and 12 Traditions 1 09-01-2013 10:48 AM
Online 4th Step Inventory Guide bluidkiti 12 Steps and 12 Traditions 11 08-07-2013 08:33 PM


Click here to make a Donation

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:05 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.