Drop The Rock: Removing Character Defects, Steps Six and Seven

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Prayer is of no use when it is not used. Prayer is not only a matter of belief, it is a matter of practice. We can’t get caught in the trap of dogma or method. Prayer is not about right or wrong or “should” or “only.” It is about a personal or individualized way to talk with God or our Higher Power or Universal Energy or the collective unconscious or whatever we want to call it. Prayer is not about someone else telling us how to pray or what to say. It is about communication.” We all know individuals in recovery who have given up the booze or another addiction, yet they are staying dry or abstinent only by redirecting their intense inner misery into the lives of others.”

I am punished by my defects of character, not because I have them. My defects keep me from being all I can become. They limit my ability to grow. Before its discussion of Step Four, the Big Book says, Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions. A thorough inventory reveals those causes and conditions; the Fifth Step allows us to share them with God and another human being, and so remove the inner pain they have caused in our past lives. By publishing your document, the content will be optimally indexed by Google via AI and sorted into the right category for over 500 million ePaper readers on YUMPU. God, not me, makes me different by giving me what it takes to change. It is my job to act and behave like the change has occurred. In doing this, the process of change happens.” The project was delayed for some time due to the pandemic but was finally realized in July 2022 when the group was able to assemble at The Bunker in Brooklyn, New York, Goldings coming right from a tour with James Taylor and Cardenas from a rare tour of Chad.It is courage that turns possibilities into realities and assures us that progress in improving our character is possible. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Thank you to all those who have contributed to the production of this second edition as we remember that we will always be students in the Program, we remain teachable and open to new opportunities, and we open our minds to accept and our hearts to understand. For those familiar with the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program, this book focuses on Steps 6 and 7. That is, "6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character," and "7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." So, after completing Steps 4 and 5, one's inventory of personal character defects becomes obvious. But if God removes all of one's character defects, many of us would be "the hole in the doughnut". What would be left of us? This book goes through the fears one might have before asking one's Higher Power to remove one's character defects, and (as is implied in Step 7) becoming of service to one's fellows... not just one's fellows in AA, but of service to everyone. It seems like a lot of work, but compared to the disaster an alcoholic leaves in his wake and the work it takes to clean up that mess, the spiritual work seems an easy trade.

If we are humble, we are open to new ideas and new ways of seeing things. Open-mindedness is a very important part of humility. We don’t know it all. There is still more we can learn. And maybe even more important, some we need to unlearn.” I cant keep practicing my character defects and expect God to remove them! I have to develop a new set of habits and practice them. I must be willing to make the choice between my old and new habits. When it comes to will, I must be willing to put God's will in place of my will into action. I also have to be willing to accept that God will take care of me. I have to give up the fear of being comfortable in my own chaos and the unknown of not living the chaotic life. I have to get out of the comfort of practicing my character defects. It is the living of these defects that have hurt others, myself and separated me from God. Practicing my character defects led me to and separated me from Suzie. Another area(s) I have to let go of is belief in self. If I believe in God and believe God made me perfect in mind, body and spirit than I have to accept who I am. This is new for me as I have spent a life making me something I am not. On one hand through self discovery I am happy with what I have found. On the other am appalled at what I see. If I am to grow I have to accept me as God made me. I am to love who and what he has created. God give me the courage and strength to know who I really am, to act accordingly in my life, and to refrain from diverting my time, energy, and interest into my character defects.” As a young drummer, Joseph came up under the direction of his father’s baton in a wedding band. Joseph wanted something different than his father’s workaday approach to music making. Eventually, the drummer made it to New York and found success in different groups, including those of Kevin Hays, Brian Charette, Binky Griptite, and Michael Bates, in addition to working with Tony Scherr, Chris Potter, Gregoire Maret, and Steve Wilson. The new material in this second edition has been added as a result of comments received from individuals who have read the first edition and knowledge I have obtained throughout my recovery journey, which has now moved into its twenty-sixth year. When I first joined AA, I thought the Big Book’s program of action was saying a thousand things. I slowly began to understand that it is saying a few simple things a thousand times.It’s a thorough, multifaceted perspective on 6 & 7. If you don’t feel Inspired to press through working these steps this book will inspire and motivate!!!! Then you can push through In this ongoing process, the Program is asking us to go where none of us has ever been before—into lives of lessened fear, diminished anger, fewer resentments, and genuine self-esteem instead of self-pity. There is a price, however: the willingness to challenge and change patterns of thought, speech, and behavior that may have gone unchallenged for ten, twenty, thirty years or more. — During the early 1980s I worked in the archives at AA Headquarters in New York and one of the most asked questions was, What is the difference between character defects and shortcomings? The answer is that there is no difference. Bill W. and the other authors of the Big Book didn’t want to use the same word in both Steps. The same approach is used in this book— character defects is used interchangeably with shortcomings. When you identify these shortcomings, you want to write down each individual character defect into list form. Once you have finished compiling this list, you will want to write next to each shortcoming or defect a corresponding positive trait that will replace the negative ones on the list. Keep in mind there is no set number of shortcomings that need to be included; the list can be as long as needed. I believe that this will help you who are looking for sobriety and a life second to none. I found it,and hope to give it to somone ..