Into Action

 It isn’t enough to simply get sober. I came to the rooms of AA to find sobriety, but I knew that doing the work was how I’d get there. What I didn’t realize at the time was that ‘doing the work’ would be a continuous effort. 

The work begins within. I had to confront the way I was thinking and the manners in which I lived my life. I certainly knew what didn’t work, and was ready to submit, surrendering my will to Something Greater - but what? How?

We have a ladder out of the pit of despair with 12 steps. Only 12, no matter how shallow or deep the hole. We have a guidebook which explains them, and several books which look at each step individually, helping us to internalize the way taking that step strengthens us for the next. That takes Action - reading, journaling, praying, and meditating, as well as asking another to help us along the way. Sponsorship, both receiving and giving, is Action.

I learn how my unexplored actions have hurt myself and others, and what to do about that. I learn to be responsible for all of what I do and say, and to take Action to repair damage I caused. I learn, through the Actions of active learning, to recognize more quickly when I’ve caused harm, and to clean it up promptly.  I find that loneliness is a state of inaction, and that I can be part of other people’s growth, simply by sharing honestly and openly my own journey. The sharing is Action.

The last rung of the ladder tells me to try to “carry [take Action] this message to alcoholics, and to practice [take Action] these principles in all our affairs.”