Let’s Dare to Open the Door to Our Demons … Once More – Step 8

Demons trying to break through a glass door w/ sfz title

“If you know the
enemy and know your-
self you need not fear the
results of a hundred battles.”

– Sun Tzu (c. 403-221 BC) Chinese philosopher/ war tactician

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What battle have you waged to tame your own “demons”, lately?

OR

What helps you face your own battles without losing hope or forgetting who you are?

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The Matrix – Secret Revelations from Neo (10:00)

Fighter – Christina Aguilera (4:06)

Intro into Nothingness: Zazen Meditation Practice (24:29)

English Analysis

As Bill Sees It reminds us that real faith begins when comfort ends. During war, A.A. members faced fear, loss, and chaos, yet their trust in a Higher Power deepened through adversity. Viktor Frankl (1946) wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning that meaning is discovered through suffering, not avoidance. Step Eight asks us to meet our own inner battlefields with that same courage. Pain becomes a teacher when we refuse escape.

The Basic Text warns that complacency opens the door to relapse. We must remain vigilant, for the enemy—addiction, ego, or despair—never sleeps. As Chief Phil Lane Jr. of Wellbriety teaches, “Healing is not an event; it is a lifelong journey of returning to balance.” Awareness, humility, and service form the armor that protects us from false pride. Through action, not theory, we win each small war within ourselves.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War offers clarity: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles” (trans. Griffith, 1963). Self-knowledge becomes strategy. Compassion becomes strength. Our recovery thrives when we understand both our weakness and our will to heal. Each moment of clarity is a victory born of struggle and trust.


Traducción al español

Cómo no perder los momentos más preciosos de claridad – Paso 8

EN EL CAMPO DE BATALLA
“Cuando estalló la Segunda Guerra Mundial, nuestra dependencia de un Poder Superior tuvo su primera gran prueba. Los miembros de A.A. entraron en servicio y se dispersaron por todo el mundo. ¿Podrían soportar la disciplina, mantenerse firmes bajo el fuego y resistir…?” (As Bill Sees It, p. 200)

EL ENEMIGO NUNCA DUERME
“En nuestra enfermedad, tratamos con un poder destructivo y violento, mayor que nosotros mismos, que puede llevarnos a una recaída.” “Nunca podemos recuperarnos por completo, sin importar cuánto tiempo permanezcamos limpios. La complacencia es el enemigo…” (The Basic Text, pp. 84–85)

“Si conoces al enemigo y te conoces a ti mismo, no temerás el resultado de cien batallas.”
—Sun Tzu (c. 403–221 a.C.), filósofo chino y táctico militar

Análisis

As Bill Sees It nos recuerda que la verdadera fe comienza cuando termina la comodidad. Durante la guerra, los miembros de A.A. enfrentaron miedo y caos, pero su confianza en un Poder Superior creció a través de la adversidad. Viktor Frankl (1946) escribió en El hombre en busca de sentido que el significado se descubre mediante el sufrimiento, no evitándolo. El Paso Ocho nos pide enfrentar nuestros propios campos de batalla con ese mismo valor. El dolor se vuelve maestro cuando rechazamos la huida.

The Basic Text advierte que la complacencia abre la puerta a la recaída. Debemos mantenernos vigilantes, pues el enemigo —adicción, ego o desesperanza— nunca duerme. Como enseña el Jefe Phil Lane Jr. del movimiento Wellbriety: “La sanación no es un evento; es un viaje de por vida hacia el equilibrio.” La conciencia, la humildad y el servicio son la armadura que nos protege del falso orgullo. Mediante la acción, no la teoría, ganamos cada pequeña guerra interior.

El arte de la guerra de Sun Tzu ofrece claridad: “Si conoces al enemigo y te conoces a ti mismo, no temerás el resultado de cien batallas” (trad. Griffith, 1963). El autoconocimiento se convierte en estrategia. La compasión se vuelve fuerza. Nuestra recuperación florece cuando entendemos tanto nuestra debilidad como nuestra voluntad de sanar. Cada momento de claridad es una victoria nacida de la lucha y la confianza.

Pregunta :
¿Qué te ayuda a enfrentar tus propias batallas sin perder la esperanza ni olvidar quién eres?

Zonr logo on battles

Comments

11 responses to “Let’s Dare to Open the Door to Our Demons … Once More – Step 8”

  1. Eli🌱🫶🏾🫡🪱 Avatar
    Eli🌱🫶🏾🫡🪱

    I understand the root of the question- ‘what do I do to handle things I don’t like about myself’
    But I refuse to demonize the things about myself I don’t like. Building internal animosity inherently impedes building self-acceptance.
    Still, to the question- I’m practicing noticing behaviors I don’t like and changing course mid-stride. It’s disorienting. But it’s productive.

  2. cb7595 Avatar
    cb7595

    Something that helps me face my own battles is reaching out to someone. Whether that be calling my sponsor or a friend for support, or calling up a newcomer and asking about their day, 99% of the time I end the call feeling so so so much better.

  3. Lotus Avatar

    I face my own battles by staying courageous, yet looking for exit routes whenever they present them to keep from returning to a way of life that no longer suits, nor works for me, and the lifestyle I’m trying to accomplish. When faced with suspicions the battle of my own control presents it to me, and I have to face this to gain more resistance to those things out there that want to harm me plus a lot more control. Exercise, lifting weights, builds strength plus endurance for me like when I was faced with an attacker. Today is Trans Day of Remembrance, so I carry those wounds with gender attacks with me too. The gendered battles we’ve faced, that now I like to be on guard from stem all the way from our government too.

  4. Mink Avatar
    Mink

    The “war” was active addiction and I couldn’t stay sober because I didn’t understand myself or why I was doing what I did. Only through the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous I have been able to learn enough about myself and my disease to stay sober.

  5. Sabrina J Avatar
    Sabrina J

    Sometimes there are conversations with loved ones that can be uncomfortable. They bring up the opportunity to create resentments or hurts. By listening and being mindful of presence in these moments, I am able to acknowledge,first thought wrong. First thought is often rooted in my addiction, patient thought is in recovery, it vanquishes the demons.

    Thank you for sharing recovery with me. Grateful.

  6. E-Dawg Avatar
    E-Dawg

    When I’m in battle, I’m speaking of spiritual warfare, I put on the full armor of God Ephesians 6.:10-18

  7. Darko Avatar
    Darko

    Remembering my values I have built myself around and who i used to be to who i have made myself to be because of the values I have decided to adhere to is the best way I know in taming my demons. I don’t need to win battles with people because it’s better to work with others. There are no good and bad guys. There is only the battle with myself to keep doing the right thing.

  8. slim jim Avatar
    slim jim

    Reaching out actually feels good to me once I actually do it and not think myself out of out.

  9. easy does it Avatar
    easy does it

    Never underestimate the power of a meeting so vital in dealing with this destructive force. One hour can make
    My whole day easier. The battle with this disease tells me
    I need help cuz on my own this is too great for me

  10. JB jr. Avatar
    JB jr.

    I fear my ego gets in the way of my finding the truth in a situation. It happened again yesterday I had to keep checking in with myself to see if what I was fighting for was just or just an argument I wanted to win over others.

    One tell was to be able to keep my emotional attachment in check and not freak out.

  11. Margot E. Avatar
    Margot E.

    There are so many factors that negatively affect my recovery – “enemies.” Arrogance and Fear are two sides of the same coin and my Higher Power has a thousand ways of making sure I walk the fine line between. I need not fear my own weaknesses nor walk as though I have no character defects. I walk with my face lifted to the sweet sunlight of my Higher Power’s Love. Today, right now, I am safe, I am warm, I am loved – unconditionally.

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