​Week 269 All Addictions Big Book Step Study

Today’s reading: End of Step Ten
AA 12&12 p.93 beginning of para 3 – p.95 end of chapter
“When evening comes…many of us draw up a balance sheet for the day. … THROUGH… Having so considered our day, … sleep in good conscience.”

Q(1)(a) Are you looking at your day during the day? (b) Are you doing an inventory at night?

Q(2)(a) Are you checking your behavior?
(b) When you find you have pride, jealousy, anger, or are fearful, are you doing some sort of inventory on it – resentment or fear inventory?
(c) And are you looking for the root
cause?
(d) Did you do one last night?
(e) What did you find when you last did one?
(f) Share it with your buddy or with a friend.

Q(3)(a) Do you see the value in spot-check reviews?
(b) Have you seen a change since you’ve been doing spot-check inventories – a change where you’re not putting your foot in your mouth, where you’re pausing
by doing the spot-check?

Q(4) When you find you’ve acted in a mistaken way, do you recognize what you’ve done and then visualize how you might have done it better?

Q(5) Is there any rationalizing going on in your life? Are you rationalizing anything (today)?
[Rationalization – “The temptation…to imagine that we had good motives and reasons” (to do something) “when we really didn’t.”] (p.94 para 2 last sentence)

Do you want to build good character?

Do you want to have good living?
​
Then Step Ten is the answer.

​Week 268 All Addictions Big Book Step Study Workshop

Step Ten continued.

Today’s reading:
AA 12&12 p. 93 beginning of para 1-
p. 93 end of para 2.
“We can try to stop making unreasonable demands…” THROUGH “…Am I doing to others as I would have them do to me – today?”

Look up: courtesy, kindness, justice, love, keynotes

Q(1)How are you in stopping the pushing, pulling, prodding, dictating and
dominating (a)with the ones you love?
(b)with those who have asked you to help them? (c)everyone else–
co-workers, distant neighbors, communal church goers, exercise partners, the cashier, …?

Q(2)(a)How are you doing with showing courtesy, kindness and respect with those you love? (b)Have you changed your attitude? (c)And have you changed _____________________.
(d)Give an example from this past week or month where you did show kindness, courtesy and respect where you had shown none(previously). How did the other person respond?
(e)In the past week or month, has someone shown you courtesy, kindness and respect where they had shown none? How did that feel? And how did you react?

Q(3)(a)How are you doing with someone you dislike?
(b)Action assignment:
Ask God every day
how can you practice justice and courtesy (towards this person), perhaps going out of your way to understand and help them.

Q(4)(a)What spot-check inventory works for you- 1)T.H.I.N.K. or
2)was it necessary?was it kind?
or 3) where have I been selfish, self-centered, dishonest, afraid?
(Perhaps all of them together.)
(b) Are you willing to promptly admit it, to listen to that deep inner voice, that small voice inside that says you didn’t really treat another person with respect?

Q(5)Is there a person in your life that refuses to be in harmony with you? How does it make you feel? How can you put your intellect over your emotions and really treat them with courtesy, kindness, justice, and respect? (That respect is really a love.)

Q(6)Write on trying to live moving towards perfection and not resting on your laurels – by using an Action Plan.

Q(7)When in doubt of what to say and/or how to say it, keep saying:
‘Thy will, not mine, be done’.
Write on that.
​
Q(8)(a)Write this down:
The universal Golden Rule:
Am I treating others as I would have them treat me today?
(b)How are you doing with: “Am I doing to others as I would have them do to
me – today?”
Note: SEE Q(4)
Two more possible methods of doing a spot-check inventory Stephanie has alerted us to are:
4) ‘Thy will, not mine, be done’.
5) Asking ourselves ‘Am I treating others as I would have them treat me today?’
(Now we have 5 different ways to do a
spot-check, walking-around inventory.)

​Week 267 February 9, 2017 All Addictions Big Book Step Study

Today’s reading:
AA 12&12 p. 92 beginning of para 1- p.92 end of 3rd line.
“Now that we’re in A.A. and sober…” through “…has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time.”

Look up: radical, indifferent

Take three sick people in your life today and pray for them during the day for everything you ever wanted. See if your heart doesn’t change around your feelings for them.

Q(1)(AA 12&12 p. 92 para 2, mid line 3:)
“…(then) we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means.”
This is the backbone of Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve.
(a) Write on that. Really dig in.
If you can radically change your attitude around them (sick people who are hurting you) and look at them with a bandage around their heads, you will achieve true joy and peace and serenity.
(b) Do you believe that?
(c) Are you willing to do that?
(d) Have you been willing to do that in the past? And have you seen a radical change in yourself as a result?

Q(2) Write in your own words:
(a) What does being indifferent to somebody look like and
(b) What is detachment without love?

Q(3) See AA 12 & 12 p.92 paragraph 3:
“Such a radical change in our outlook will take time…”
through to its end atop p. 93:
“The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, …ignore the many, and…continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time.”
(a) How do you feel about this paragraph? Write on it.
(b) What does it mean to you?

Q(4) How are you doing in your life today about detaching from the people-in-your-life-today, with love?
​
Q(5) Check yourself out around those people who are in your life now. Are you detaching with love or are you being indifferent or disrespectful?

​Week 266, February 2, 2017 All Addictions Thursday Big Book Step Study

Today’s reading:
AA 12&12 p. 91 beginning of para 1-
p. 92 end of (full)paragraph 1.
“In all these situations, we need…” through
“…any success we may be having is far more His success than ours.”

Q(1) Ask yourself: Did I act hastily this week? Or did I act rationally?
Write on it.

Q(2) Did you see that, with acting hastily or rashly, your ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporated?

Q(3) Did that happen to you- did you have an unkind tirade?

Q(4) Are you having fantasies of greater victories over people and circumstances?

Q(5) Have you played the big-shot? Tried to control other people? Tried to get your way? If so, write it out.

Q(6)(a) Why is prideful self-confidence not recovery?
(b) What is recovery? How would you describe it?

Q(7)(a)Has anybody turned away from you? You need to look at that. (That looking is a spot-check inventory.)
(b) Were you playing the big-shot? Trying to control?
(c) Were you quick-tempered? Furious and power-driven? Sulking? In a state of silent scorn?

Q(8) Look up ‘vigilance’ and write on:
(a) What does vigilance look like?
(b) What is an Action Plan for you to have vigilance around Step Ten?
​
Q(9) Write on:
“As an insurance against “big-shot-ism” we can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far more His success than ours.” ( AA 12&12
p. 92 last sentence para 1)