Mar 7
Written By Matthew Drake
“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character”
The 6th Step of Alcoholic’s Anonymous is “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” After completing Step 4, the moral inventory and Step 5, admitting to God, ourselves and another human being (sponsor) the exact nature of our wrongs, you will be able to connect with your higher power to get ready for him/her/it vanquish these character defects. If God is your higher power then the statement stands as is. If you do not choose to use God as a higher power you can choose whatever you’d like. My higher power is nature. I was talking to my housemate Hayden the other day about that and he said “nature, the Great Out Doors, G. O. D.” And I thought that was pretty clever. Your higher power can be anything, the clothes you wear, the grandmother you miss, Allah, Buddha or even a dumpster fire. Maybe your character defects seem like a dumpster fire. But that’s fine. One day you can have a brand new shiny dumpster or it may have even transformed into a beautiful mansion in the Santa Monica mountains. Odds are God is not going to fly down and physically remove the defects from your soul. But if he does, let me know, because that’s pretty amazing. Get through each step ad you will be ready to keep progressing and feeling like a brand new human being more and more with each step.
To be entirely ready I suggest practicing surrendering in as many ways as possible. A great start is social interactions. It’s okay for other people to be right. It’s taken me 37 years to realize that. Instead of arguing, getting angry and being spiteful just smile and thank the person even if you disagree with them. “Kill them with kindness.” It’s perfectly legal and you won’t have to worry if your public defender is secretly linked up with the D.A. on the side. I suggest morning meditations with positive affirmations. I have been doing this every morning for 5 minutes and it has done wonders for me. Yoga, runs, walks, physical activity in general will help as well. Leave the negativity behind in the past and don’t look back. I actually haven’t got to Step 6 yet or even Step 3 but I know I have made the decision to turn my will and life over to the care of God as I understand him (again…nature…we’re talking about nature here 😉 and I’m excited to work the steps past Step 3 for once. It’s taken me 6 years in and out of AA meetings, 18 months in and out of 5 residential treatment centers, 2 Outpatient programs and 5 sober livings to get to this mindset. Never give up. Keep trying and keep coming back. You will eventually find your way.
