Fourth Step Template

Fourth Step instructions: 1) Complete the “Who?” column first, listing all resentments first, followed by the rest of the “deadly defects”.  (Notice how we didn’t say sin?  No judgement here!)  Popular defects among us were Pride (read: “haughtiness”), Anger, Lust, Envy (you know, jealousy), Sloth (being a lazy good for nothing, LOL), Greed, and Gluttony. […]

Continue reading →

February 6, Step Twelve – How To Maintain a Principled Life

Thought for today: Let’s consider the implications of what Step Twelve means by “…practice these principles in all our affairs”. What principles are we talking about? Honesty for one thing. Honesty with ourselves and others. Honesty in recognizing our need for reconciliation with God and our fellows. Honestly knowing that we need to change. We […]

Continue reading →

February 5, Step Twelve: Trying to Carry The Message

Thought for today: Whenever anyone shows up at meetings they seem to get exactly what they need. An old-timer will share their story and be reminded of what works. For perhaps the first time, a newcomer will hear a sane answer to the puzzling paradox of debt and living beyond their means. That’s how Step […]

Continue reading →

February 4, Step Twelve: “Having Had a Spiritual Awakening”

Thought for today: Without DA, a “spiritual awakening” might have eluded us. Being mired in debt and overcome with grave anxiety was the normal state for us. Not only have we found solvency, we have also found a faith that works, and a peace of mind in the face of debt. We deal with daily […]

Continue reading →

February 3, Step Eleven: Maintaining Fit Spiritual Condition

Thought for today: In recovery we need God-consciousness to stay with us throughout the day. Our Higher Power buoys us, where we would likely sink otherwise. As we work with step 11, “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God this we understood Him,” we learn to still ourselves down, petition […]

Continue reading →

February 2, Step Ten: Working Our “Daily Reprieve”

Step Ten, “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it” helps keep us honest. In the steps before we honestly worked through our history in a process of “Awareness, Acceptance, Action”: – Awareness of our feelings; of our motives; of God’s will. (4 & 5) – Acceptance of who we […]

Continue reading →

February 1, Step Nine: Completing the Circuit of Recovery

Thought for today: In step nine, “Made direct amends to such persons we had harmed wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others,” we complete a process that we began in step four, a path out of darkness into light. A member summarizes what we are doing: “In step four, we […]

Continue reading →

January 31, Step Eight: Becoming Ready To Make Amends

Thought for today: We make a list of people we have harmed in step eight, and become willing to make amends to them all. Whether we actually make amends or not is irrelevant at this point. Our willingness is what matters in this step. We start by reviewing our fourth step, where we discovered our […]

Continue reading →

January 30, Why Do Step Eight?

Step eight is: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. By now we should have identified our shortcomings and their impact in our lives. If we aren’t ready for this step, we can go back over the preceding steps (starting with step 1) to […]

Continue reading →

Step 5: The Beginning of the End of Isolation

Thought for today: They say you are as sick as your secrets. We were so alone, our secrets were many.  No one knows how many of us hid our true financial situation from immediate family members who had a right to know. Then we took Step 5: “Admitted to God, ourselves and another human being […]

Continue reading →