Thoughts on Step 11

[nandm]

"Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

By the time we arrive at Step Eleven, most of us have become comfortable with the concept of spirituality. We feel that the phrase "God, as we understood Him," tells us clearly that, whatever our belief is, some spiritual contact is essential to our recovery program.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to find a support group---and have participaed in our own recovery by being an active member of that group---have come to know the comfort of being a "part of" rather than feeling pain and loneliness because we don't seem to fit in anywhere. This camaraderie has given us the benefit of hearing how others learned to pray and meditate.

Many people have said that of all the steps, they felt this one was the most healing. It reenforced their commitment to a power greater than themselves. And it gave them a more definitive sense of being on the right path at last.

For those of us who are loners, or whose circumstances preclude involvement with others, Step Eleven is like a beacon light. Its focus on meditation in addition to prayer teaches us how to create calm in the face of chaos. It also familiarizes us with the effective value of guided imagery, which we can use when we do not have someone with whom we can share.

Step by Step. Meditations for living the 12 Steps. Muriel Zink

[nandm]

This step taught me that I can be alone without being lonely. It taught me what calmness, serenity, and peace really mean.

I have found that days when I fail to put the work into maintaining my spiritual contact with my HP by doing those simple things like prayer and meditation my day feels much more difficult. I struggle until I remember that this simple step allows me to be open to viewing life as a lesson rather than seeing things as a struggle. Only then am I open to what life truly has to offer and am able to find the gratitude for the second chance at life that the program has given me.

[kelsh]

Hi nandm,

My Spiritual part of my program works for me the same wayas yours does. If I don't think to consiously say the "Serenity Prayer" during the day...everything seems to go wrong that can go wrong.

I don't seem to have any trouble remembering my meditations and contact with the AA Program in my daily life though. I also do a lot of self-talk which works good for me.

kelsh

[oliver]

Love Maya Angelou

[McGowdog]

I do On Awakening...

I do When we retire at night...

Now what I've been working on is the Throughout the day... part.

I love starting the day off with simply considering our plans... asking God to remove self pity, dishonest, self-seeking motives...

Then to close the day with "constructively" reviewing our day. Looking at where we were selfish, dishonest, resentful or afraid...and a few other questions. But the part I really like is when it says that we must not "drift ..." Then we ask for God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

The "thoughout the day stuff is any number of spiritual outlets. It may be reading from a devotional, set aside meditations, prayers, or other worship. I've been going though an audio book by Rick Warren; The Purpose Driven Life.

In that I learned it's good to not get into a "worship rut". We all have a unique way to worship God and we can express this doing otherwise ordinary activities throughout the day. For instance, a cook can bring God along while he/she's preparing food.

Anyways, I belong to a closed AA group and we do all 12 steps yearly. We just got back from a spiritual retreat in the Colorado mountains and it was awesome.

[Pinkcuda]

"Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood "
A lot of us confuse this word with "Maintain" Hence the term "Maintanance Step". We are not maintaining, we are improving.

[McGowdog]

I agree. So what's your current experience with Step 11?

To me, Step 11 is NOT the short form wall scroll version of the step on page 59 in the chapter How It Works. It's the long form instructions from pages 85 to 88 in the chapter Into Action. The step tells us what to do at night, in the morning "on awakening", and throughout the day.

Add: Oh, and it tells us to "be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer". It doesn't say to "be quick to see where religious people are wrong. Make sure to let them know about it too."

That's the work that the first 100 sober alcoholics suggested for us to do and that's what we seek to get an experience with and share in meetings.

I believe this work helps bring about a recovered state of being in the alcoholic and enables them to have a psychic change that enables them to remain a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

I do this and all of the other 11 steps because I've been to the mountain top and I've tasted the honey! Why the heck wouldn't I? It's awesome. When I do this stuff, I don't WANT to drink booze. And for me, that's a freaking miracle! I also do it because I decided at the beginning that I would do this.

I am responsible for my sobriety.

[optra]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

I agree. So what's your current experience with Step 11?

To me, Step 11 is NOT the short form wall scroll version of the step on page 59 in the chapter How It Works. It's the long form instructions from pages 85 to 88 in the chapter Into Action. The step tells us what to do at night, in the morning "on awakening", and throughout the day.

Add: Oh, and it tells us to "be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer". It doesn't say to "be quick to see where religious people are wrong. Make sure to let them know about it too."

That's the work that the first 100 sober alcoholics suggested for us to do and that's what we seek to get an experience with and share in meetings.

I believe this work helps bring about a recovered state of being in the alcoholic and enables them to have a psychic change that enables them to remain a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

I do this and all of the other 11 steps because I've been to the mountain top and I've tasted the honey! Why the heck wouldn't I? It's awesome. When I do this stuff, I don't WANT to drink booze. And for me, that's a freaking miracle! I also do it because I decided at the beginning that I would do this.

I am responsible for my sobriety.

Well said
I especially like
"I do this and all of the other 11 steps because I've been to the mountain top and I've tasted the honey!"
Once you get a taste how could you possibly not want more of the same?
Thanks

[keithj]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

It's the long form instructions from pages 85 to 88 in the chapter Into Action. The step tells us what to do at night, in the morning "on awakening", and throughout the day.

Great point. It may sound silly, but even after some time of sobriety, I still go back to those pages. When I'm feeling a little off the beam, unconnected, I revamp my Step 11 work by opening that book up morning and night, and following those directions line by line. I like to think that I have developed enough concious contact to wing it on my own, but I need to remember and follow those directions, as written. Thanks.

[McGowdog]

I try to do it daily from about Thanksgiving to September 1st, and my pathetic attempt to stay plugged into 10 and 11 while doing 4 through 9 again.

And I'm with you on that. Sometimes I try to wing it and do it by heart... at least the "When we retire at night" part, but that's only 1 paragraph. The On Awakening and throughout the day stuff is about 8 paragraphs.

It's best to just have the book handy and read it line by line... IMO anyway.

And they say this is just sandbox Kindergarden stuff.

[CAPTAINZING2000]

Life seems to run much smoother practicing this step on a daily basis