Pick Up The Tools

On my first sober anniversary, during the handshakes at the end of the evening, another member of the Blue Point Group shook my hand, looked me in the eye and asked “you know what time it is, don’t you?” Somehow I intuitively knew what he was going to say but didn’t let on saying “no, what do you mean?”

It’s Time To Pick Up The Tools!

I knew he was going to say that! Thanks D.C.

Of course, D.C. meant the Twelve Steps of recovery.

Here are some other tools which are all contained in the same tool box, which are spoken of at Silkworth.net in response to sometimes long-term sobriety difficulties;

“Such lack of quality can only mean lack of objectives or lack of all-out effort toward such objectives. We must recognize the Absolutes as guideposts to the finest and highest objectives to mortal man. But recognition is not enough. We must use the tools.”

Honesty

Over and over we must ask ourselves, “Is it true or is it false?”

• For honesty is the eternal search for truth. It is by far the most difficult of the four Absolutes, for anyone, but especially for us in this fellowship. The problem drinker develops genuine artistry in deceit. Too many (and we plead guilty) simply turn over a new leaf and relax. That is wrong. The real virtue in honesty lies in the persistent dedicated striving for it. There is no relaxed twilight zone, it’s either full speed ahead constantly or it’s not honesty we seek. And the unrelenting pursuit of truth will set you free, even if you don’t quite catch up to it. We need not choose or pursue falsity. All we need is to relax our pursuit of truth, and falsity will find us.

“Our sobriety is a gift, but honesty is a grace that we must earn and constantly fight to protect and enlarge.”

Unselfishness

“We have a long road to travel because ours was a real mastery of the exact opposite during our drinking days.”

• Proceeding with the question method of digesting the absolute, we suggest you ask yourself over and over again in judging what you are about to do, say, think or decide, “How will this affect the other fellow?”

• Is there any protection against that first drink which equals our thought of what it may do to others, those whose unselfish love guided us in the beginning, and those whom we in turn guided later on? We are again reminded of the last verse of an anonymous poem:

“I must remember as I go Though sober days, both high and low, What I must always seem to be For him who always follows me.”

Love

A good question to ask ourselves on love might be, “Is it ugly or is it beautiful?”

• We receive understanding and love from strangers and we make progress as we in turn give it to new strangers. It’s as simple as that.

• When we live for our own sobriety, we again become beggars in spiritual rags, blind once again with the dust of pride and self. Soon we shall be starving with the hunger of devouring ourselves, perhaps even lose sobriety, Love is “giving of yourself” and unless we do, our progress will be lost. Each one owes the gift of this second life of sobriety to every other human being he meets in the ceaseless presence of God, and especially to other alcoholics who still suffer. Not to give of himself brings the desolation of a new poverty to the sober alcoholic.

“If it’s truly beautiful then it is the way of love, it is the way of A.A., and it is the will of God as we understand Him.”

Purity

“It is a simple case of answering the question, “Is right, or is it wrong?”

• There is no twilight zone between right and wrong. Even in our drinking days we knew the difference.

• Just as a real desire to stop drinking must exist to make our way of life effective for us, so we must have a determined desire to do that which we know is right, if we are to achieve any measurable degree of purity.

• Were we to contemplate the peace and contentment that a pure conscience would bring to us, and the joy and help that it would bring to others, we would be more determined about our spiritual progress.

“In Purity as in Honesty the virtue lies in our striving. And like seeking the truth, giving our all in its constant pursuit, will make us free even though we may never quite catch up to it.”

To Summarize The Four Absolutes

“We must approach this objective of the Absolutes humbly. We pray for these things and sometimes forget that these virtues must be earned. The gates of wisdom and truth are closed to those wise in their conceit, but ever open to the humble and the teachable. To discover what is true and to practice what is good are the two highest aims in life. If we would be humble, we should not stoop, but rather we should stand to our fullest height, close to our Higher Power that shows us what the smallness of our greatness is.”