Up Or Down "This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day.... This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer." Basic Text, pages 35-36 Our spiritual condition is never static; if it's not growing, it's decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself. Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close. Before long, we'll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us, unable to bear even ourselves.
Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.
Up or down - it's one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned. Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we've discovered, but by prayer and action.
Just for today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday's program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action. Page 238
this really boils down to one thing. make daily contact with your higher power. it's not that hard. pre-recovery I only talked to HP when things went wrong, usually taking his name in vain. That's right I blamed him. when things went well, I gave myself the credit and forgot all about HP. All I had to do was reverse this, sort of. When things are going well, I thank HP. One things don't work out to my expectations, I look at what my part was in it, correct my part and try to lower (or eliminate) my expectations. when I'm concerned about some situation that I'm in the middle of, I'll say "ok HP, please help me out with this". Don't question this, just do it and see how your fear just goes away and your desire to use do away with it.
