COURAGE MONTH: DAY 29: “You see, to find the brightest wisdom one must pass through the darkest zones. And through the darkest zones there can be no guide. No guide, that is, but courage”― Adam Gidwitz
We get to walk through or work through our fears. There is no other way to do life. To continue to avoid them is to live in constant terror and pain. Resistance to life is what causes that pain, not life itself.
The more we cower in fear of things, the more painful and angry we become.
Step 8 is all about letting go of those imagined fears of working through issues with others and with life itself. As we let go of that fear, we become willing to just do this simple work. And it is very simple. Ego tells a different story. About how complex, twisted, serious (always very serious!) the issues are with the people WE harmed. Isn’t that fun?
Yeah, becoming willing is only another acceptance, another letting go of old ideas. We may have done some of this in Step 4, and this is where we finish it off…Steps 8 and 9. I know there were amends in my early years that I was NOT completely willing to make, but I did it anyway. There is a great deal of veracity in “JUST DO IT” philosophy.
I am glad I got into this recovery world in the years where I heard that phrase so often. Still resonates with me. And I am a big fan of following direction and receiving direction of a sponsor and from a sponsor. Doing this on my own would be the greatest insanity of all.
Dolphin Hug 