THE TROUBLE WITH SELF IS SELF – STOP YOUSING AND START TRUSTING GOD!

“Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations.” (BB pg 64)

“Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?” (BB pg 68)

I cannot and never have been able to sustain the management of my self – I must have God’s help! As an alcoholic in recovery I cannot manage my will, intellect or emotions with out God’s continual help. My recovery can be described as an continual series of endless spiritual surrenders… which means to “giving Up to God” or “losing the battle with self” So when we are told to surrender to God by saying, “Thy Will be done,” we may feel that in some way we are giving up something we want, but can’t have. . . . Surrender is not “giving up.” It is consciously joining forces with the unlimited nature of your God Self.

Surrender is acceptance of defeat which produces positive feelings, especially hope. (the calm in the middle of the storm) Surrender in AA involves the letting go of control. We often tell a newcomer: “I’m not a retired alcoholic, I am a defeated one. I’ve thrown in the towel.” To let go in surrender is totally different from fighting alcohol (or life). It is a giving up of the battle in order to move on. Despair and hopelessness, not personal strength, is its core. At almost every AA meeting a new person will hear: “You may leave this meeting today and need never drink again.” Often this is something they have never heard or considered before.

No A.A.’s, regardless of their veteran status, can ever relax their guard against a reviving ego. 

The function of surrender in A.A. is now clear. It produces that stopping by causing the individual to say, “I quit. I give up on my headstrong ways. I’ve learned my lesson.” Very often for the first time in that individual’s adult career, he has encountered the necessary discipline that halts him in his headlong pace. Actually, he is lucky to have within him the capacity to surrender. It is that which differentiates him from the wild animals. And this happens because we can surrender and truly feel, “Thy will, not mine, be done”.

Unfortunately, that ego will return unless the individual learns to accept a disciplined way of life, which means the tendency toward ego comeback, is permanently checked.

 This is not news to A.A. members. They have learned that a single surrender is not enough. Under the wise leadership of the A.A. “founding fathers” the need for continued endeavor to maintain that miracle has been steadily stressed.

The Twelve Steps urge repeated inventories, not just one, and the Twelfth Step is in itself a routine reminder that one must work at preserving sobriety. Moreover, it is referred to as Twelfth Step work-which is exactly what it is. By that time, the miracle is for the other person.