Thought for today:
In Step 4, having made a list of our resentments, fears and anything else that is bothering us, we come to Step 5, which recommends that we seek another program person, and our Higher Power, to share these truths with.
The person we have picked to share this Step is often someone who has experienced all the same things. As such, Step 5 is often the beginning of the end of isolation. In it, we share our fears and anger, our strength and hope, and a healthy dose of humility enters in.
We learn so much about ourselves in Step 5. We have challenged ourselves to explore who we are, and we have found some life-changing truths about ourselves.
A member shares:
“They say you are as sick as your secrets, and for me, it’s doubly true. When I was growing up, I got the clear message that we never were to air our dirty laundry in public. There were things I was planning to go to the grave without sharing.
“Then the Steps encouraged me to do just that – talk about my life! Well, I thought, I am desperate, so I began to be vulnerable in one-to-one conversations about myself.
“I shared how my fears had led me to do things I wasn’t proud of, like taking money from my children, lying on credit applications, and stealing when I was younger. I felt guilty and ashamed.
“Being in debt ran my life. I felt ashamed, humiliated. and judged. But my Sponsor, whom I asked to hear my Fifth Step, had also done the same things – and worse!
“I was grateful to know that I was not alone, and my solvency got stronger. I discovered in Step 5 that my debt was only a symptom of my wounded spirit. I found healing and beauty after that.”
DA Step 5:
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Healing:
In DA we have found a new way to deal with our problems. Together we grow, like a garden that cared for. With this Step we are beginning to allow such healing and beauty.
Ask:
What is motivating me today?
Meditation for today:
When we learn how to trust, wisdom can bud. Isolation can give way to fellowship, and we can discover there is nothing we can’t handle together.
Affirmation for today:
“My life is a blessing I share with others. Today I see that thorns have roses.”
Recommended reading:
DA’s Eighth Tool is D.A. and A.A. Literature: “We study the literature of Debtors Anonymous and of Alcoholics Anonymous to strengthen our understanding of compulsive disease and of recovery from compulsive debting.”
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Copyright 2015, PlentyOfTimeMoneyAndLove.com.
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