March 2010

Some of us tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely (Big Book, How it Works, Page 58)

The decision called for in Step Three is to surrender our drink problem to a Higher Power and to let go of our old ideas for ideas that do work. Our Higher Power may be many other things to other people, but God as we now understand Him seems to express Himself to us as ideas that work to make our lives more comfortable and happy.

The Steps are about a new beginning, a way of life without alcohol. They are about learning how to live, and they are about learning how to deal with our defects of character and giving ourselves a new life. If we keep hold of ego, pride, arrogance and envy, then we keep hold of the triggers to drink, to self-destruct and to sabotage ourselves. This is why we must strive to let go of our old ideas and old way of life or we would not make much progress in our sobriety.

Any time we find ourselves hurting, it is because we have gone on automatic pilot, turning our will over to old ideas that automatically take us back where we've been all our lives prior to coming to AA. Working the Programme is simply a matter of choosing which ideas we surrender to.

It is time to give up and give over, time to let go and let God and time to take responsibility for our defects of character, and pray earnestly for help in overcoming them.