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

“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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How True Grace can be Achieved with a Degree of Relative Ease – Step 8

WHEN THE SPIRIT HUNGERS –

“As our lives become more comfortable, many of us lapse into spiritual complacency, and risking relapse, we find ourselves in the same horror and loss of purpose from which we have been given only a daily reprieve (The BasicText, p. 95)

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Must We Forever be, Chained Inextricably, to the Past for all Eternity – Step 8 begins

“Step Eight is the test of our newfound humility. Our purpose is to achieve freedom from the guilt that we have carried. We want to look the world in the eye with neither aggressiveness nor fear.” (The Basic Text, p. 37)

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To Quell Stomach Churning Anxiety, “Do Little Things Now; So Big Things Shall come to Thee” – Step 7

LITTLE THINGS LIKE ASKING FOR HELP - "Humbly asking for the removal of our shortcomings means we are giving complete license to that loving Power to work in our lives, believing that God's [or your H.P.'s] wisdom far exceeds our own." "We ask for help because we cannot do it alone." (It Works, How & Why, p. 49) BEING WILLING IS ONE SUCH LITTLE THING - "The whole emphasis of Step Seven is on humility. Its really saying to us that we now ought to be willing to try humility in seeking the removal of our other shortcomings ... ."…

Continue ReadingTo Quell Stomach Churning Anxiety, “Do Little Things Now; So Big Things Shall come to Thee” – Step 7

The Cure for Loneliness and Escape from old Hatreds and Despair – Step 7

WELCOME HOME TO THE MEETING WOMB -  "Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss." (The Big Book, p. 89)   SELF-LOVE LEADS TO OCEANS OF FELLOWSHIP TO WADE IN - "This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day. We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life. This growth is not…

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How to Walk with Joyful Pride without Coming Off as Vain & Unappealing – Step 7

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.” – Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) English novelist and social commentator

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What to Do when We Feel Broken, Battered and Beaten Down to the Ground – Step 7

BREATHE – “Here we ask God [or our H.P.* ] for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy.  [W]e don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.”  (The Big Book, p. 86)

 

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Perhaps the Most Poignant Uses for the Pain We Hold Deep Inside – Step 7

“But if I can go through what I went through, if I can still live and go through that pain for life on earth to change for the best, let it be.” – Immacullee Ilibagiza ( 1972 – ) Rwandan-Tutsi survivor & author on the price of pain

 

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