Prayer is seeing answers and direction in life. Meditation is listening for answers from a Higher Power and developing the ability within ourselves to accept the answers.”

Sloth is the thief of time. The character defect of putting off actions “until things get better” is one of the most destructive detours we can make. Delays never make problems “go away;” they only make success harder to attain.” For a long time, it seemed like the burly Samoan actor was on top of the world. But after finding himself at the center of two major studio controversies — and a public feud with Zachary Levi over their crossover potential within the all-but defunct DC Extended Universe — the megastar appeared to be falling from grace. The first time I read Step Six, I thought it meant I had to arrive at some angelic state of mind in which I would become—and forever remain— entirely ready to have God remove all my defects. (I had forgotten that AA promises spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.) By publishing your document, the content will be optimally indexed by Google via AI and sorted into the right category for over 500 million ePaper readers on YUMPU.As we’re taught in the Twelve Steps, the chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear. Mainly fear that we would lose something we already possessed or that we would fail to get something we demanded. Living on the basis of unsatisfied demands, we obviously were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, we are taught, there will be no peace unless we are able to reduce these demands.” It’s a thorough, multifaceted perspective on 6 & 7. If you don’t feel Inspired to press through working these steps this book will inspire and motivate!!!! Then you can push through I am punished by my defects of character, not because I have them. My defects keep me from being all I can become. They limit my ability to grow. A practical guide to letting go of the character defects that get in the way of true and joyful recovery. God give me the courage and strength to know who I really am, to act accordingly in my life, and to refrain from diverting my time, energy, and interest into my character defects.”

Without emotional and spiritual recovery, you don’t have much. You have abstinence, and you may not even have that for very long. If you don’t follow the “clear-cut” directions of our Program, you can’t move into receiving God’s directions.” They have gotten down to their own right size. Humility is understanding that they’re worthwhile. It’s the middle ground between the extremes of grandiosity and intense shame.” For those familiar with the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program, this book focuses on Steps 6 and 7. That is, "6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character," and "7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." So, after completing Steps 4 and 5, one's inventory of personal character defects becomes obvious. But if God removes all of one's character defects, many of us would be "the hole in the doughnut". What would be left of us? This book goes through the fears one might have before asking one's Higher Power to remove one's character defects, and (as is implied in Step 7) becoming of service to one's fellows... not just one's fellows in AA, but of service to everyone. It seems like a lot of work, but compared to the disaster an alcoholic leaves in his wake and the work it takes to clean up that mess, the spiritual work seems an easy trade. Drawing on his years of lecturing on the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Fred H. reveals Step 10 as the natural culmination of working the previous Steps, providing a crash course on renewing your recovery program through the daily practice of Twelve Step principles. If you are seeking drug and alcohol related addiction rehab for yourself or a loved one, the SoberNation.com hotline is a confidential and convenient solution.I cant keep practicing my character defects and expect God to remove them! I have to develop a new set of habits and practice them. I must be willing to make the choice between my old and new habits. When it comes to will, I must be willing to put God's will in place of my will into action. I also have to be willing to accept that God will take care of me. I have to give up the fear of being comfortable in my own chaos and the unknown of not living the chaotic life. I have to get out of the comfort of practicing my character defects. It is the living of these defects that have hurt others, myself and separated me from God. Practicing my character defects led me to and separated me from Suzie. Another area(s) I have to let go of is belief in self. If I believe in God and believe God made me perfect in mind, body and spirit than I have to accept who I am. This is new for me as I have spent a life making me something I am not. On one hand through self discovery I am happy with what I have found. On the other am appalled at what I see. If I am to grow I have to accept me as God made me. I am to love who and what he has created. A reminder to not quit and enjoy the journey because that is where the freedom lies- NOT in reaching a destination

I believe that this will help you who are looking for sobriety and a life second to none. I found it,and hope to give it to somone ..Authenticity is being true to a vision and purpose. We are authentic when we choose to act and feel and choose to behave in balance with the higher values and principles we’ve chosen for our lives. If those principles and values are not fully in place and manifested, it doesn’t make us phony. It makes us human. If we feel the conflict between who we are and who we would become, it is good. It signals that we understand the difference between reality and fantasy and are moving toward reality.” As a young drummer, Joseph came up under the direction of his father’s baton in a wedding band. Joseph wanted something different than his father’s workaday approach to music making. Eventually, the drummer made it to New York and found success in different groups, including those of Kevin Hays, Brian Charette, Binky Griptite, and Michael Bates, in addition to working with Tony Scherr, Chris Potter, Gregoire Maret, and Steve Wilson. This book also features opinions from various members of AA, men and women, and how they approached working Steps 6 & 7. The audiobook narrator has a great voice, but he doesn't do voices, so when a woman's story is being read, the narrator keeps his same voice. It is a toss up whether this is good or bad. Audiobooks are presentations, and in this case it should not be considered entertainment. Thus feigning a female voice by a male narrator might be considered inappropriate. Your mileage may vary. The project was delayed for some time due to the pandemic but was finally realized in July 2022 when the group was able to assemble at The Bunker in Brooklyn, New York, Goldings coming right from a tour with James Taylor and Cardenas from a rare tour of Chad.

The recording begins with Goldings’s “Mozam-BBQ,” a challenging boogaloo piece that exists in that space between straight and swung eighth notes, highlighting Joseph’s melodic touch. The trio captures the slow burn, pulsing groove of Stax’s soul sound on Hey’s “Sauté.” The beautifully sanctified “Nina’s Lullaby” interprets an improvised lullaby that Joseph’s daughter sang to her pet fish, Crabby. There is a flamenco tinge to Golding’s “Paco’s Theme,” a piece that swings naturally in a 5/4 meter. The new material in this second edition has been added as a result of comments received from individuals who have read the first edition and knowledge I have obtained throughout my recovery journey, which has now moved into its twenty-sixth year. When I first joined AA, I thought the Big Book’s program of action was saying a thousand things. I slowly began to understand that it is saying a few simple things a thousand times.If we are humble, we are open to new ideas and new ways of seeing things. Open-mindedness is a very important part of humility. We don’t know it all. There is still more we can learn. And maybe even more important, some we need to unlearn.” God, not me, makes me different by giving me what it takes to change. It is my job to act and behave like the change has occurred. In doing this, the process of change happens.” We all know individuals in recovery who have given up the booze or another addiction, yet they are staying dry or abstinent only by redirecting their intense inner misery into the lives of others.” It is courage that turns possibilities into realities and assures us that progress in improving our character is possible. One morning, while I was at Hazelden’s Fellowship Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, I awoke very early and knew it was time to make that beginning. I took out the list of defects, read it over, and asked myself two questions: Why are you holding on to these things? and What did these things ever do for you? (I may choose to hold on to them for fear of letting go, but holding on to them for years and years led me into alcoholism.) So I got on my knees and recited the Big Book’s Step Seven prayer, which asks God’s help in replacing our willfulness with His will for us. The Twelve and Twelve calls that replacement a basic ingredient of all humility.