Have you done a fourth and fifth step yet Adam? You could list that resentment there. They talk about fear in the directions. I was riddled with it....And it did steal a lot from me. I can't count the hours and years and opportunities it stole from me.  My solution to fear??....To drink. It makes perfect sense that self reliance failing me was the reason I lived in so much fear. Just part of the unmanagibility of my life....And until I found a new Manager....By working those steps.....My life was calamity. Not today...Give me a little serenity and peace any day. And you are right...Thank God AA and those steps exist.

Notice that the word "fear" is bracketed alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones, the employer, and the wife. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? Sometimes we think fear ought to be classed with stealing. It seems to cause more trouble.

We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn't it because self-reliance failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn't go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn't fully solve the fear problem, or any other. When it made us cocky, it was worse.

Perhaps there is a better way - we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.

We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.

BB pgs 67 - 68

AdamMoz wrote:

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Thank you much, Stepchild. I'm currently beginning the process of step 4. I've already filled about 14 pages of a notebook, and certainly have more to go.

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That's awesome. I can't express enough the importance of doing step four as they laid it out in the book....And that you have a sponsor that has done it to guide you. A sponsor can't do this step for you Adam. I did this step with guidance from my sponsor....I had a lot of questions. But when it came down to doing it.....I simply followed the directions with God's help. It's hard for me to think of a better feeling than living without being consumed with fear. Simple solution.....I hand them over to a power greater than myself. It's good to see you taking the required action.

Great thread here, ... real good stuff guys ... ... ...