2
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We reviewed our fears thoroughly.
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We look at our fears again. Many of the fears that control us are unreasonable. We have never applied reason to them. We adopted many of the ideas behind our fears prior to becoming mature aduts. This is our chance to re-evaluate our fears when we are sober adults.
3
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We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them.
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By listing the fears taht we have, we develop the ability to identify the forces within us that drive us to act the way we do. Many of our less desirable reactions to life are the result of fears. We may treat our spouse badly because we fear they may leave us. We may avoid other people because we fear they may not life us. We may steal because we fear we may not be able to make it on our own. None of these methods of coping with life are entirely successful. By listing our fears, examing them in the light of our new way of life, and seeking help from God, we place ourselves in the position to begin to outgrow them.
8
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When it made us cocky, it was worse.
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Using bravado to cover up our fear and denying that we have it is one of the signs of fear causing us to act in foolish ways.
10-12
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For we are now on a different basis; the basics of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns.
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We adopted this new basis for our lives by making our third step decision.
This is a good example of exactly how to put our decision into action. Our old way was to rely solely on our own inner resources and coping skills we had developed over time. We either avoided the source of our fear or we denied having it and acted in an unsuccessful way to overcome it. Our new way to deal with our fear is to identify it, examine it and ask God to remove it. This way works. As we try it repeatedly on all our fears, we see for ourselves that it does work and we come to rely upon it.
13
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Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbley rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.
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The key word her is "do." Seeking to do God's will as we gain a thorough understanding of who and what we really are will produce in us the humility necessary to receive God's grace. We see that our problems are of our own making in our lives. God gives us the strength to meet life's difficulties when we are humble enough to ask for it.
18-21
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All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demostrate, through us, what He can do.
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Knowing that God will give us the strength to meet any of life's challenges gives us courage. When we relied solely on our own power, fear of failure would sometimes prevent us from even trying. When we are seeking to do God's will, we know even what seems to be failure will turn out for the best. We can learn and grow rather than have our self esteem destroyed by our failures.
22
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We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be.
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This prayer is the key to overcoming our fears. Turning to God for help is the guiding principle of our new way of life. this prayer asking God to remove our fear is an important part of our new way of life. Rather than be driven by worrying about what we may lose or fail to gain for ourselves, we ask God to help shape our lives.
23
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At once, we comence to outgrow fear.
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Our fears, based on self, no longer fit in our new lives. As we change the focus of what we desire in life from the satisfaction of our instinctual drives to a life based upon seeking God's will our fears seem to disappear. By relying upon our Higher Power, we find that our needs are met and that our wants change. Our self-centered fears of losing what we have and of not getting what we want lose their power over us.
26
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But above all, we tried to be sensible on this question.
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How we best ensure sound judgement in the area of relationships with others is by following the authors' suggestions to avoid hysterical thinking or advice (70:2), seek the calm rational counsel of others (69:26), seek the guidance of God (69:18) and in the end let God be our judge (69:26).
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
Frank D