Set It To Paper

It had been some time since I last heard someone do this…

A Fourth Step meeting. A newcomer. Not on the Fourth Step yet. “But, I’ve been thinking.”

And this is one of those times when everything after “but” is BS. You simply ought not even attempt to “do” a Fourth Step in your head!

“In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry.”

Since I don’t live in your head I can only submit my own experience. I am entirely capable of, and extremely good at, forgetting, ignoring, denying, minimizing, maximizing and losing focus. And – that’s not simply because I’m old today lol. It’s because I am an alcoholic!

My reasoning is, if you admit you are an alcoholic also, you stand an excellent chance of being like me. Therefore, our minds are not an ideal place to try to store data, data that can place our lives at stake.

Page 101 speaks to this. Talking about conditions where our minds actually come in contact with the physicality of alcohol’s existence the book says: “An alcoholic who cannot meet [these conditions], still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status.”

Newcomers who aren’t “on” their Fourth Step most likely (can’t be all inclusive) are still thinking with an alcoholic mind. When we put our thoughts on paper we are able to show them to a sponsor, a mentor, to our God, folks who can decipher them from experience and wisdom, with clear heads.

You can’t solve an alcoholic problem with the alcoholic brain that created it!