Thought for today:

When it comes to the disease of compulsive debting, there are no “unique” stories.  The same “debt-a-log” gets told over and over in the rooms of DA; only the names and faces change.

In this sense, the disease is boring; it always blinds us to light, leaving us to whither, get angry, lash out or nash in at ourselves.

In DA, we use the literature of AA to help understand the nature of compulsive disease.  To paraphrase the book Alcoholics Anonymous, our debting is a “merely symptom of a spiritual disease”.  In our recovery, “What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.”(1)

Once we recognize what’s happening in our lives, Steps 5, 6 and 7 direct us to healing space:

DA Steps 5, 6 and 7:

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.(2)

A member shares:

“I shared my inventory with my sponsor the other day, very upset, looking for answers to my debt problems. Circumstances were desperate.

“My sponsor listened attentively to the litany.  I shared about my chaotic situation – creditors chasing me, family upset with me, harms done to myself and others.  Each problem was like a tile in a haphazard mosaic.   Page after page, I poured out grief over injustices, some imagined, some real.

“I admitted what I thought was the exact nature of my wrongs – that I had no patience.  I turned over the list, saying ‘and that’s all I wrote.’

“My sponsor smiled thoughtfully and a moment later asked: ‘Now, where is your Higher Power in all of this?’

“I was shocked at this statement, because I thought I had controlled all these situations myself.  I never thought to include my Higher Power in the relationships I was struggling with.

“This was the beginning of real wisdom for me.  After taking my Fifth Sixth and Seventh Steps with my sponsor, the rest of the Steps became much simpler, because I knew that my Higher Power was running the show where I could not.”

 Meditation, affirmation and prayer can help:

Meditations, affirmations, and prayer – MAP for short – can help deepen our understanding of our motives.  We learn to grow along spiritual lines as we align ourselves with “spiritual principles”.  We may not understand the origin of our Higher Power, or have much faith, but we can use that power nonetheless.

It is a paradox that we see our Higher Power when we show kindness to a person who is suffering. Total reliance on a Higher Power is what we need in order to sit at the table of plenty of time, money and love.

Some prayers from the AA Big Book are helpful here:

“My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad, to do with as you will.”(3)

“Take away my difficulties that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of your power, your love, your way of life. May I do your will always!”(4)

(1) Alcoholics Anonymous, page 85
(2) ibid, page 59.
(3) ibid, page 76 (a.k.a. “The Third Step Prayer”).
(4) ibis, page 63 (a.k.a. “The Seventh Step Prayer”) .

Ask:

“Am I willing to find a Higher Power I can include in my life?”

Meditation for Today:

We do a disservice to a person when we see them in self-neglect and say nothing. We can speak our truth quietly and listen for opportunities to grow.

Affirmations for Today:

“When I sponsor, I help others by sharing my program, but I help myself most. And that is the idea. In a way this is selfish, and in a way it is selfless. It is a paradox – it is how my Higher Power’s  circle of love works.”

Recommended Reading:

Check out this free version of the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous here.  Also, read the free AA Twelve and Twelve.

Hard copy or kindle versions are available by clicking on the book image below:

See our Fourth Step Template which helps us to take a fearless moral inventory.

Some members, with the help of their Pressure Relief Group, take a moratorium from debt payments in order to get their spending under control.  See this Debt Moratorium sample letter to creditors for one example.

If you are new to this blog, check out our overview of the program of recovery from compulsive debting.  If you like this post, please click one of the like/share buttons on the site.  If you would like to receive daily “Thoughts for today”, enter your email and a username in the subscription form at the top of this page.  Some links on this page bring you to other sites. Clicking a book title or image brings you to information about purchasing it.  If you buy something it will help support this blog with a small commission – which does not add to your cost!

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