Saturday, April 17, 2010

what's not to love?

I'm drinking my coffee from my 3rd and 7th Step Prayer mug, the birds are chirping, the sun is working its way through some clouds and it's Saturday. What's not to love? We have baseball practice in a couple of hours and the garage sale has reached its final day! There's plenty of yardwork to do now that we're in full spring mode so it should be a great weekend all the way around!

I'm still working very hard at not getting sucked into the "negative nelly" Bd with the Scouts and we have a meeting schedule with the "powers that be" and the offending den leader on Wednesday. Hopefully the meeting will bring the drama to a close once and for all.

One of the most important lines in the Third Step Prayer for me today is "Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do They will." Still today, just like the Big Book says "all of my problems are of my own making..." I am still suffering from self centeredness. Thankfully it's not nearly as bad as it was when I first hit the scene in AA. The Third Step Prayer still has meaning for me after 14+ years of recovery in AA and I am glad. I refer to Step 3 as the "instant gratification Step" because each time I practice Step 3, I feel better almost instantly.

It feels good, letting go, not being the center of all things. It's a relief not having to have all the answers and making sure you know I have all the answers. Step 3 brings me peace, helps me remember "Who" is in charge and allows me to really be more myself. Letting go and letting God helps me to see my role, helps me grow closer to God and builds my faith in Him. Step 3 is one I try to work into my daily routine, my daily conversations with God. I don't want to go back to a life run on self will. I know now that is a life of insanity, slow death and constant misery.

Step 3 still works wonders for me today.

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

Oh, so excellent post! Thank you, and blessings!

The Turning Point said...

That's the beauty of the simple things we learn in the program, they just keep getting better and better as time passes.

Have a great weekend.

Jim

Syd said...

I love that third step prayer. I do a variation on it for my daily prayer and often resort to it during the day as I need. It is a good prescription for sanity.