Here are some questions we can ask ourselves to help us build our inventory list in this area. The fact is, we have a spiritual problem, and the only cure is God. Spirituality is the aspect of recovery that I think most often gets overlooked. Some of us are very comfortable embracing spirituality, but for others, it feels weird or uncomfortable.
Join the Mailing List
We won’t actually act on this step until we get to Principle 6. For right now, just ask yourself who might be on your amends list. As overwhelming as I’m sure this all may seem for someone who’s either never had a spiritual connection, or been disconnected for years, I’d like to assure you it’s not as formidable as it may seem. But first, it’s crucial that you understand the difference between a spiritual experience and a religious one.
Request a change to this listing
As addicts we can become so focused on the outward form our addiction takes – whether that booze, drugs, sex, overeating, etc. – that we overlook its deep roots at the core of our being. This spiritual malady is the restless spirit, the soul sickness that if left untreated will begin to ooze symptoms of emotional insecurity worry, anger, self-pity, and depression, even if we have been sober for years. So physical cravings spiritual malady are not the primary reason we slip. Well, if you’ve been in Celebrate Recovery or any 12-step program for a while you know that, for most people who are actively working the steps, over time the mental obsession dissipates. I remember my wife Deb coming home from her first Overeater’s Anonymous meeting. “They told me that I will actually lose my obsession with food.” Then she added, “I don’t believe them!
- Only once we open the spiritual channels and begin to accept a Higher Power into our lives can we hope to find a solution to our alcoholic condition.
- Writes, “For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead.
- Here we’re talking about movies, music, websites… Are we on a mental diet of junk food or health food?
- There is no church you must attend or strict practices you must adhere to in organized worship of said higher power, it is a completely individual and personal experience.
thoughts on “A Spiritual Inventory”
What is important though is that we strive to be a little better every single day and never give up on our spiritual journey in recovery. Our spiritual malady never just goes away and stays away on its own, it requires a constant spiritual connectivity and effort on our parts in our programs to keep it and the subsequent alcohol and drug abuse at bay. So long as we make an active effort to address our spiritual malady every day, we will find relief from it, one day at a time. On page 62 the text explains that “Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.” This “SELFISHNESS-self-centeredness” (or the “ego”, as some people refer to it) drives us to respond to life situations with the above “symptoms” as well as disorders and addictions other than alcoholism.
The great psychiatrist Carl Jung called this a ‘low level thirst for wholeness – for union with God’. In our addictions, we tried to quench our soul-thirst with fleeting pleasures. The pursuit of them dominated our lives, destroyed relationships, and caused greater desperation than we ever thought possible. We became selfish and self-seeking, ever thirsting for more, and this lust warped us on every level.
- As much as it depends on us, we need to live at peace with our families.
- It is a reality of my powerlessness and unmanageability and enables me to see why I so desperately need to seek a Power Greater than myself.
- This isn’t about a legalistic set of religious rules we are required to follow.
- Finally, someone explained to me that those things are not the insanity that the Big Book talks about; nor are those things why the alcoholic’s life becomes unmanageable.
Take Your First Step To Recovery
Spirituality + Alcoholics Anonymous Prove Successful for LA Youth – Youth Today
Spirituality + Alcoholics Anonymous Prove Successful for LA Youth.
Posted: Fri, 03 Jul 2015 07:00:00 GMT [source]
It simply means we are spiritually blocked off from the Power of God, which enables us to remain sober, happy, joyous, and free. Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me. It is a reality of my powerlessness and unmanageability and enables me to see why I so desperately need to seek a Power Greater than myself.