We will not, however, achieve a state of spiritual perfection, regardless of how diligently we apply the Sixth Step to our lives. We will most likely see the defects we deal with today manifest themselves in a variety of ways throughout our lifetime. Even after years of recovery, we may feel devastated at the reappearance of some old defect we thought had been removed. We are humbled by our imperfection - but let there be no mistake; humility brings us back down to earth and plants our feet firmly on the spiritual path we are walking. We smile at our delusions of perfection and keep on walking. We're on the right path, headed in the right direction, and each step we take brings progress.It Works How and Why page 67
Today I was reminded that I'm still prone to making childish decisions. Very humbling, indeed.
There are, in every Fellowship, "newcomers" who have
all the answers; they don't give a tin-plated iguana turd how many people warn them, trying to help them avoid learning lessons in a way that could take them "back out", and potentially others also, in their backdraft.
I allowed myself to participate in an argument with someone, in my humbled opinion, who displays characteristics of that belief.
It was counter-productive, and violated the 1st Tradition in an obvious, blatant way.
Why? I wanted to be "right."
Within the last week, I heard a friend with 20-ish years clean share in a meeting, "If it boils down to being
right, or being
happy, I'll choose happy every time."
Amazing how quickly I can forget those
hard-won gems of knowledge. I shouldn't expect perfection of myself, or even that I'll stop adding to my Eighth and Ninth Steps just because I'm clean for a few 24-hours.
Tags: Humility
