A Dozen Steps

Nothing For Self-Congratulation

by Mark on May 4th, 2008

Returning to “The Language of the Heart” I found the only reference to the Fifth Step in that book from Bill W. on page 239.

Bill speaks of “Step Four and Step Five, dealing with self-survey and confession of one’s defects, have not been overly difficult, either.”

Well, good for you Bill… :)

He goes further;

“Of course, my self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I’ve failed to share my defects with the right people; at other times, I’ve confessed their defects, rather than my own; and at still other times, my confession of defects has been more in the nature of loud complaints about my circumstances and my problems.”

Sure is good to find that Bill was human eh? (come on now, laugh)

“Nevertheless, I think I’ve usually been able to make a fairly thorough and searching job of finding and admitting my personal defects. So far as I know, there isn’t at this moment a single defect or current problem of mine which hasn’t been discussed with my close advisers. Yet this pretty well-ventilated condition is nothing for self-congratulation. Long ago I was lucky enough to see that I’d have to keep up my self-analysis or else blow my top completely.”

Now there is something I can surely identify with!

“Though driven by stark necessity, this continuous self-revelation - to myself and to others - was rough medicine to take. But years of repetition has made this job far easier.”

Thank God!

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POSTED IN: The Fifth Step