Two “Magnificent Standards”

Humility and responsibility. These are the “magnificent standards” Bill wrote about in “As Bill Sees It”. 

One of many, each doing our part. 

I can look back over my time of sobriety in A.A., and see how those standards in others have benefitted me in my own understanding and growth. The challenge is to demonstrate them every day in my life. The first standard, humility, was tricky. I learned that I was not unique, as much as I tried to believe I was. I learned the truth of what seemed like a paradox: that I could describe myself as an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. Oh my! I learned that having humility was nothing like being humiliated. Humility meant that I willingly removed my mask and revealed myself. Humiliation happened when my mask was forcefully, publicly removed. That was a very big difference. In the rooms, I felt the freedom to reveal, to find my true self. I could examine both my strengths and my weaknesses, and learn from there, because others had the humility to show me who they were.

I found that I had the responsibility to myself to do just that: do the work, examine my motives, establish a relationship with Power, learn to listen, and to take appropriate action. That wasn’t magically bestowed upon me. I work at it every day. My responsibility to myself extends to others in sharing, serving, and giving of myself. The Serenity Prayer helps me determine my guidelines, and my participation gives me opportunities to help others. 

I am just one of many, trying each day to do my part.