Steps By The Big Book

[bluidkiti]

STEP 6

“I…became willing ….” (Bill’s Story, 13: 3)
Heard in a meeting: “Step 6 is about NOT doing what you want to do. What are you willing to give up? Are you ready for change?”


We become willing to give up our bondage of self-absorption.
We are of the conviction that we are powerless over our addiction to alcohol, and that our lives are unmanageable. When we try to manage life, life becomes unmanageable. Our compulsive physical cravings, our emotional obsessions, and our spiritual void lead us to be restless, irritable, and discontented. These all motivate us to react to life events with selfishness, dishonesty, self-seeking, and fear.
We are worn out.
We are dishonest when we do not see the reality of what is unfolding before us in true perspective and proportion. We are selfish and self-seeking in that our own self-centered desire, disinterest, or disgust are the criteria by which we judge and react to life. [12 & 12, 92: 3 – 93: 0] We are fearful as we anticipate the sense of loss that will happen if we do not get what we desire, or lose what we have, or we are found out for who we are and what we have done. [12 & 12, 76: 2]
We are exhausted.
And we drink. Or we act and think as though we have been drinking, on an emotional dry bender. Now we are exhausted with our way, we are worn out by our habitual choices; we are sick and tired of the consequences of doing things our way. Our way did not work. (52: 3) In Step 6, when these things become objectionable to us, we are ready to give them up. This is a gift of desperation. When we could not spot or note our thought-habits and behaviors, we could not get rid of them. Today, when we can see and name them, we can renounce them, turn them over and change.



pp. 69-70