It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. 12 & 12, p. 90

I never truly understood the Tenth Steps spiritual axiom until I had the following experience. I was sitting in my bedroom, reading into the wee hours, when suddenly I heard my dogs barking in the back yard. My neighbors frown on this kind of disturbance so, with mixed feelings of anger and shame, as well as fear of my neighbors disapproval, I immediately called in my dogs. Several weeks later the exact situation repeated itself but this time, because I was feeling more at peace with myself, I was able to accept the situationdogs will barkand I calmly called in the dogs. Both incidents taught me that when a person experiences nearly identical events and reacts two different ways, then it is not the event that is of prime importance, but the persons spiritual condition. Feelings come from inside, not from outward circumstances. When my spiritual condition is positive, I react positively.