“Those with the most tools do the work.”
The whole point of the Fourth Step is not to rehash old issues and get even more justified in being pissed off at people. It’s to change. If our thinking has not changed, and we're still doing the same things as we did before, then it is time to take another look. Sometimes it takes a little bit. The word is thorough, and this is not about other people anymore. It is about us, how we have behaved, and how we want to set up our future dealings with others.
These alcoholics figured out a pathway out of our stinking thinking that nobody had been able to figure out before, and if we can position our thinking through grace, stop pointing fingers, and inspect our own minds in times of stress, we can live wonderful, happy lives. We have been given the grace to find AA, and we have been given tools to relax, accept, and take it easy.
Sure, the world seems like an insane place, and we have contributed our share of insane choices to it, but resentment, anger, and rage are no longer options. We have tools. This is not about what we can get out of life anymore—it is about what we bring into it. We are in the business of giving grace, not walking around expecting it for every cornball reaction we make. We are trusted by God to help instead of harm. It is a free gift we have been given, and it is time to practice using it so we can get better at it.
Have you changed?
“Those with the most tools do the work.”
The whole point of the Fourth Step is not to rehash old issues and get even more justified in being pissed off at people. It’s to change. If our thinking has not changed, and we're still doing the same things as we did before, then it is time to take another look. Sometimes it takes a little bit. The word is thorough, and this is not about other people anymore. It is about us, how we have behaved, and how we want to set up our future dealings with others.
These alcoholics figured out a pathway out of our stinking thinking that nobody had been able to figure out before, and if we can position our thinking through grace, stop pointing fingers, and inspect our own minds in times of stress, we can live wonderful, happy lives. We have been given the grace to find AA, and we have been given tools to relax, accept, and take it easy.
Sure, the world seems like an insane place, and we have contributed our share of insane choices to it, but resentment, anger, and rage are no longer options. We have tools. This is not about what we can get out of life anymore—it is about what we bring into it. We are in the business of giving grace, not walking around expecting it for every cornball reaction we make. We are trusted by God to help instead of harm. It is a free gift we have been given, and it is time to practice using it so we can get better at it.
Have you changed?
