Not so I could experience the Promises… damn.

Since I am always paraphrasing the last paragraph in the Ninth Step in the 12&12, here is an exact quote;

“For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.”

And that’s why we don’t “unload a detailed account of extramarital adventuring upon the shoulders of our unsuspecting wife or husband.”

I think it’s a different matter if they’re not so unsuspecting.

Please – don’t “do” the Ninth Step so you can “experience” the Promises. That is not the purpose of the Ninth Step.

Post from: Blisstree

To Stay Sober

Looks like more than Twelve (Actually, there are 238 total in the Big Book)

1. We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. (77:2)

2. If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result. (78:0)

3. In nine cases out of ten the unexpected happens. (78:1)

4. Rarely do we fail to make satisfactory progress. (78:1)

5. We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them. (78:2)

6. Perhaps there are some cases where the utmost frankness is demanded. No outsider can appraise such an intimate situation. (82:1)

7. Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead. We must take the lead. A remorseful mumbling that we are sorry won’t fill the bill at all. (83:1)

8. If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. (83:4)

9. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. (83:4)

10. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. (83:4)

11. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. (83:4)

12. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. (84:0)

13. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. (84:0)

14. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. (84:0)

15. Self-seeking will slip away. (84:0)

16. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. (84:0)

17. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. (84:0)

18. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. (84:0)

19. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. (84:0)

20. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. (84:1)

Post from: Blisstree

Ninth Step Promises