“People Get Ready … The Train’s a Comin’ ” – Step 8

Steam engine train charging down the tracks with sfz title

“GETTING OUR HOUSE IN ORDER” – “We become willing to let other people be who they are without having to pass judgment on them. The urgency to take care of things isn’t there anymore.” “[Our Higher Power] is helping us get our house in order.” (It Works, How and Why, p. 58)

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 – Sign up to Zonr for Today’s Full SFZ

In what areas of your life have you noticed that “the journey is more important than the outcome” lately?

OR

How can you let your Higher Power help you clean your “inner house” without rushing the process?

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People Get Ready … The Train’s a comin’ 

Change is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke (3:10)

Arthur Ashe Brief Bio (1:57)

A Mongolian Shaman’s Journey Drum Meditation (8:28)

 

 Analysis of “People Get Ready … The Train’s a Comin’ – Step 8”

Today’s Zonr post reflects Step Eight’s moral balance between humility and growth. It Works: How and Why reminds us that willingness begins when we release judgment and accept others as they are. This echoes Carl Jung’s belief that “the privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” Jung saw surrender as strength, a principle that resonates with Step Eight’s invitation to let our Higher Power reorder our inner house. When we stop controlling outcomes, serenity replaces urgency.

Arthur Ashe’s line, “Success is a journey, not a destination,” parallels Lao Tzu’s teachings in Tao Te Ching. Both insist that harmony lies in the process, not the product. Our real goal, as Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions states, is to fit ourselves for service, not perfection. This mirrors the Wellbriety teaching that “healing is in the doing, not the done.” False pride dissolves when we work for connection rather than applause.

Moreover, Step Eight is not about appearance but alignment. It requires courage to repair broken relationships and humility to admit harm. Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, taught that liberation happens through dialogue and transformation, not domination. Likewise, recovery grows when we move from self-centered urgency to collective service.


Traducción al español

“La gente prepárese… El tren viene” – Paso 8

“PONIENDO NUESTRA CASA EN ORDEN”
“Nos volvemos dispuestos a permitir que otras personas sean quienes son sin juzgarlas.
La urgencia por arreglar las cosas ya no está allí.”
“[Nuestro Poder Superior] nos está ayudando a poner nuestra casa en orden.”
(It Works, How and Why, p. 58)

“DONDE DEBERÍAN CONDUCIR TODOS LOS CAMINOS”
“En este momento estamos tratando de poner nuestras vidas en orden.
Pero esto no es un fin en sí mismo.
Nuestro verdadero propósito es prepararnos para ser de máxima utilidad
a [nuestro P.S.] y a las personas que nos rodean.”
(12 & 12, p. 80)

“El éxito es un viaje, no un destino.
El hacer es a menudo más importante que el resultado.”

– Arthur Ashe (1943–1993), Campeón de Tenis Afroamericano y Activista Social

Análisis

La publicación de Zonr refleja el equilibrio moral del Paso Ocho entre humildad y crecimiento. It Works: How and Why enseña que la disposición comienza al dejar el juicio y aceptar a otros como son. Carl Jung dijo que “el privilegio de una vida es llegar a ser quien realmente eres.” Jung vio la entrega como fortaleza, un principio que refleja la invitación del Paso Ocho a permitir que nuestro Poder Superior ordene nuestra casa interior. Cuando dejamos de controlar los resultados, la serenidad reemplaza la urgencia.

La frase de Arthur Ashe, “El éxito es un viaje, no un destino,” se alinea con las enseñanzas de Lao Tzu en el Tao Te Ching. Ambos afirman que la armonía está en el proceso, no en el producto. Nuestro verdadero objetivo, como indica Doce Pasos y Doce Tradiciones, es prepararnos para servir, no para ser perfectos. Esto refleja la enseñanza de Wellbriety de que “la sanación está en el hacer, no en lo hecho.” El falso orgullo se disuelve cuando trabajamos por conexión, no por aplauso.

Además, el Paso Ocho trata más de alineación que de apariencia. Requiere valor para reparar relaciones rotas y humildad para admitir el daño. Paulo Freire, en Pedagogía del Oprimido, enseñó que la liberación ocurre mediante el diálogo y la transformación, no la dominación. De la misma manera, la recuperación crece cuando pasamos de la urgencia egoísta al servicio colectivo.

Pregunta:
¿Cómo puedes permitir que tu Poder Superior te ayude a limpiar tu “casa interior” sin apresurar el proceso?

Zonr pod on order

 

Comments

12 responses to ““People Get Ready … The Train’s a Comin’ ” – Step 8”

  1. cb7595 Avatar
    cb7595

    Recently I’ve noticed that the journey is more important than the outcome regarding recovery (as basic and obvious as it sounds). I’ve had a lot of people I know relapse recently, and the journey aspect is something I’ve emphasized a lot with them (and myself historically). We don’t lose anything we’ve learned during periods of recovery when we relapse. There’s also no real “outcome”/end to a recovery journey. The entire thing is a process.

  2. Ricky Avatar
    Ricky

    I can help my higher power clean my “inner house” by keeping an open channel of communication. Rather than asking for certain things to be done or people to act a certain way, or even asking for a miraculous change within myself, I ask what I can do to be of service to others and my higher power. I seek my higher power through multiple sources; journaling, tarot, nature, reading, learning, listening. I find that the more I seek my higher power and make an effort to stay in the present moment, the more I’m able to get out of my own head and not feel so cluttered on the inside.

  3. eli Avatar
    eli

    I think that my higher power helps me get my house in order. It does not help me control others, Judging others- as in, putting my energy into thinking about whether others’ actions are good or bad, thinking about what the ‘should’ do, and trying to directly change how they act, is rarely my business. It’s more helpful for me to focus on how I should act, and to behave -that includes speaking- in a way I believe is most helpful to me and my fellows. There is a difference between trying to control others and letting my life attract them to other ways of being in the world. There is no way of knowing for certain what my higher power would ‘want’ for me. But I can act in good faith.

  4. Elexi W.S.A. Avatar

    I’ve noticed that the journey of life teaches me(moi) a lot, and makes me stronger. Havin’ an investigative mind too is of a lot of importance in recovery, so that I also see where all these setbacks, and addictive sicknesses are comein’ from fully. I am startin’ to get some hunches, and soon to talk to F.D.A., because even with kids around for examples, the look of surroundings are very important. A sick mind could say well it depends on the type of kids around, then we don’t have to care about what goes down around us. Goin’ down is a good word too, because in people’s illegalities they no longer extremely for some reason care about their unlawful actions I can accomplish through them without a care. Drugs remind me of a lawless place, and that can never be if people act criminal minded unless they crazily think they’re like, or someone else, so that simply can’t be that they could be doin’ criminal acts then. To journey through the streets always courageously without a care as a victor always means a lot to me, because I know I will accomplish what I’m goin’ to set out to get done. Those are the serious honest words we all need right now, and not some high horse narcissist like in our government, also courtrooms on and off who just seem to pretend to be high act, and not for real. Those types of people I journey through life knowing need to be forever out of office.

  5. Mink Avatar
    Mink

    I appreciate that the zonr posts have been about steps 7-8 since moving here. It keeps me motivated to move through my steps. I’m on step 6 still and have been dragging my feet a bit. I also like Carl Jung quite a bit. The quote from him is great. I like to think that every day I stay sober gets me closer to being who I truly am.

  6. Sabrina J Avatar
    Sabrina J

    Often people hear me quote it is a journey not a destination, keeps me in good company and life keeps showing me that it is true. At any moment, life can change. At any moment, life can be different. The morning of February 6 2024, the team I was leading celebrated as we released a new version of our software. A process that can take longer than expected and often unveils challenges otherwise unseen. 20 minutes later, the call came in announcing that I was being laid off. Life changed, it is a journey, never a destination.

    This truth remains consistent. It is a journey and I am on the road right now, journeying, picking up new experiences. Learning new things from new points of view, sharing what is in my heart and listening to others do the same. And life it beautiful for the experience that goes beyond my wildest dream.

    Thank you for sharing recovery with me. Grateful.

  7. E-Dawg Avatar
    E-Dawg

    Curtis Mayfield was an amazing musician… he defined what was called the Chicago Soul sound… people get ready was released in a time of civil unrest… in one of his interviews years ago he talked about how he was spiritually motivated from his grandmother’s stories about Jesus. He wrote this song about boarding a train in the Christian afterlife… I feel like I’m on that train Right now, and the beautiful thing is I don’t need a ticket…all I have to do to get on board is to believe! the journey is both beautiful and Rocky at times… however I do believe there is a final destination… and I will see Curtis and his grandmother there one day

  8. Margot E. Avatar
    Margot E.

    I played “People Get Ready” over and over; I am calmed by the words and reassured of the words of the 12th Step: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps…” That is the train that is coming.

  9. brita Avatar
    brita

    Did the Shaman Drum Meditation and let go of about of a BILLION pounds of pressure I’d been holding onto psychologically and emotionally – it all came out in the physcial release of stretching I was “led to” when I did the meditation. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! I am definitely saving this one – I save a lot of SFZ’s but this is mindblower!!! thank you!!!

  10. Margot E. Avatar
    Margot E.

    I am currently in a state of extreme anxiety. About what? About everything! I do not need a reason to worry. How do I stop doing this? I need to re-learn Step 7. It is only with and through my Higher Power that I can eliminate this excessive worry, this anxiety. When I am most afraid humbly to ask my Higher Power – when I forget that I have a Higher Power, is generally when I most need my HP. All I need is faith to hear the diesel coming – let go and let God. I say it again, Let go and let God, and once more “Let go and let God…”

  11. Slim Jim Avatar
    Slim Jim

    I love this line, “People Get ready, There’s a Train a’comin’, You don’t need no ticket, you just get on board.”

    Its like if your willing, the spirit will take you where you need to go, all you got to be is be willing. Pretty hopeful.

  12. easy does it Avatar
    easy does it

    Not worrying about having the right job boyfriend a certain amount of money etc
    Etc. Makes it easier to stay in the moment and be useful to god and others.
    Learning to be content in whatever state im in..

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