Chapter Six
Into Action
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Chapter Six - "Into Action"
Respond To Questions About This Reading
Text of "Into Action"
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
Chapter Six
Into Action
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Chapter Six - "Into Action"
Respond To Questions About This Reading
Text of "Into Action"
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
My name is Barbara and I am a COE and the group leader for the month of July. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my ESH with you this month.
As I began to read this chapter, memories of my first Fourth and Fifth Steps came to mind. Once I had completed my Fourth Step, it was easy to admit my faults and defects to myself and to God. We already knew all about them. But to admit them to someone else, totally open myself to another human being, admit all of my deep, dark secrets, make myself vulnerable --- well, that was something totally different.
Who did I trust enough to share myself with totally? Trust had been an issue with me most of my life and I had never felt comfortable sharing my deepest thoughts and secrets with anyone. I had tried to share things with people when I was in my teens and had at times been met with criticism and negative feelings. That made me feel that it was not safe to confide in others.
My sponsor was the person that I trusted more than anyone else, so she was the person I chose to share my Fifth Step with. We scheduled a time and place and when the day came, we started out by joining hands and saying the Serenity Prayer. She then put me at ease and lovingly guided me through my Fifth Step. When we were finished, she hugged me, told me she loved me and, above all, told me I was okay. That was very important to me because I had never felt "okay." If my sponsor could listen to my story without cringing and tell me she loved me, then maybe I could begin to believe that I truly was okay. I could also begin to believe that I was not a unique person with my frailties and that I was truly "no better and no worse than my fellows."
Doing my Fifth Step with my sponsor was a very positive experience for me and I gained a true sense of freedom and peace from it - "The wreckage of the past had begun to be cleared away." It also enabled me to develop a closer relationship with my God. I had begun my relationship with Him in Steps One through Four and Step Five enhanced that relationship - a relationship built on trust.
I am currently working on another Fourth Step Inventory and will also be doing another Fifth Step at some point. What I am discovering is that there were things in my past that I did not, could not, include in my first inventory. Even though I thoroughly trusted my sponsor, there were a couple of things I could not share with her. I was not ready at that point. It was hard for me to acknowledge these things to myself, let alone someone else. had a different sponsor when I began my current inventory. As I was writing about these issues, I did share them with her. She shared with me that she had experienced something similar to one of my issues and that immediately lifted a weight from me that I had been carrying around since my childhood. She also helped me to understand and come to terms with the other issue, an issue I had dealt with most of my adult life. Again, I was freed from the weight of this issue.
We may not be ready to deal with all of our issues at one time. However, when the time is right, God will give us the courage to face them, deal with them and share them with a trusted person.
Thank you for allowing me to share with you.
THE QUESTIONS
2. Why is it important to be totally honest when sharing our Fourth Step Inventory with another person?
3. Once we have completed our Fourth Step Inventory, why is it necessary to do our Fifth Step right away?
4. "We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better." What does this statement mean to you? What role does God play in our Fifth Step?
It is the sharing of our collective experience, strength, hope and wisdom inspired by our reading of this Big Book together that will make a difference in our recovery. *It would be helpful to you as you read along to substitute the word food for alcohol and compulsive eater for alcoholic. I hope all of you will join us on our journey through the Big Book.
Thank you all for being part of this group!
Love in recovery,
Barbara
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Chapter Six - "Into Action"
Respond To Questions About This Reading
Text of "Into Action"
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
"Faith without works is dead."
The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
My name is Barbara and I am a COE and the group leader for the month of
July. This week we are continuing the study of Chapter 6, "Into Action."
Steps Five through Nine are the action steps of our program. Once we have
completed Step Five, there is more work to be done.
If we have been truly honest in our endeavors to work Steps Four and Five,
we have learned a lot about ourselves. We have learned that we have a lot
of good qualities which we refer to as character assets. We have also
learned that we have some "not so good" qualities that we call character
defects or shortcomings. This is where Steps Six and Seven come into
play. Having identified our character defects, we are ready for God to
remove them and we humbly ask him to do so.
Sometimes character defects are not readily identified as such. I have
always been the type of person who tried to help others as much as I
could, especially my children. A lot of the time what I thought was
helping or protecting them was actually enabling them and preventing them
from being responsible individuals and accountable for themselves. I had
taken on some of their responsibilities and was preventing them from
growing up. I discovered that I was a very controling person and the
"help" I was giving my children created a lot of anger and resentment between us.
I asked God to remove this character defect and, for the most part, he has
done so. I don't know when it happened, but at some point I became aware
that I no longer felt the need to totally run my children's lies. Good or
bad, I was allowing them to make their own decisions and grow up.
In addition to discovering our character assets and character defects as
we did Steps Four and Five, we also discovered that we have done harm to
some of the people in our lives and that we need to make amends to them.
In Step Eight, we make a list of all those we have harmed, and in Step Nine,
we make our amends to them.
My children were among the people I put on my list and the best amends I
could make to them was a living amends. As God began to remove some of my
character defects, especially the one of being a controling person, my
relationship with my children dramatically improved and the anger and
resentment between us began to subside, and we really have a great
relationship now. I have also gained a sense of freedom because I no
longer feel the need to control every aspect of their lives. I can't say
that some of my defects don't show up occasionally, because they do, but
not as often as they did in the past. When they do show up, I am able to
recognize them for what they are and I take action to stop the behavior,
ask God for guidance and make any amends that are needed.
More Action!! When we did our Step Four Inventory, our focus was on the
past. Now that we have reached Step Ten, it is suggested that we continue
to take personal inventory and our focus should be on the present.
Whenever I have uncomfortable feelings come up, such as anger, resentment
or fear, I try to write about them, work through the feelings and then
share what I have written with either my sponsor or a close program
friend. I am a compulsive overeater and I will eat over my feelings if I
don't take steps to alleviate those feelings. My disease is cunning,
baffling and powerful and is always waiting to grab hold of me. By taking
a daily inventory and working through any uncomfortable feelings, I am
able to keep my disease at bay on a daily basis.
Step Eleven encourages us to seek conscious contact with God through
prayer and meditation. This has really been the backbone of my program.
Unless I have a daily conscious contact with God and ask him to show me
what his will is for me, Icannot work my program and that leaves an
opening for my disease to take over. My daily contact with God keeps me
in fit spiritual condition and I am willing to let Him take charge of my
life, including my food. During times of temptation and distress, God is
always there for me if I am willing to reach out to him. The following is
a statement from one of my meditation books and I receive so much strengh
from it and I hope each of you who are reading this will too:
"God's help is always available; all we have to do is to make room for Him to take part in our
lives and keep ourselves ready to accept His guidance."
Thank you all for being a part of this group and allowing me to lead our Big Book Study for July.
Love in recovery,
Barbara
Hi everyone,
THE QUESTIONS
2. There is a statement in this chapter which says, "We would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol." How have you applied this statement in relation to the food?
3. We are told that "The Promises" will be fulfilled after we have completed Step Nine. Which Promises have been fulfilled for you?
4. The Big Book stresses that we are careful never to pay for our own selfish ends but we may ask for ourselves if others will be helped. Why do you feel it is important for us not to pray only for ourselves?
It is the sharing of our collective experience, strength, hope and wisdom inspired by our reading of this Big Book together that will make a difference in our recovery. *It would be helpful to you as you read along to substitute the word food for alcohol and compulsive eater for alcoholic. I hope all of you will join us on our journey through the Big Book.
Thank you all for being part of this group!
Love in recovery,
Barbara
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
ASSIGNMENT:
Read Chapter Six - "Into Action"
Respond To Questions About This Reading
Text of "Into Action"
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
I was sure I needed no outside help.....
...a man with tremendous pride and the will power to function in all ordinary circumstances can become an alcoholic and find himself as hopeless and helpless as the man who has a multitude of worries and troubles.
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
My name is Barbara and I am a COE and the group leader for the month of
July. This week we will be reviewing and studying the story "A Different Slant."
As I read this story, I thought of myself before program. Unlike the
writer, I very definitely had problems in my life. I was extremely over
weight and had never heard the term "compulsive overeater." I just thought
I liked to eat and at times could not stop eating. I had long ago given up
trying to diet because I had only limited success with them and could never
maintain any weight loss.
In some ways I can really identify with this writer. Just as he first
learned about Alcoholics Anonymous while in the hospital because of his
drinking, I, too, first learned about Overeaters Anonymous while in the
hospital because of health problem related to my weight.
A friend from work came to the hospital to see me and during the course of
our visit,I told her my doctor said I had to lose some of my weight to help
prevent a reoccurance of my health problem. My friend then told me she was
in a program that was helping her to lose weight and she would tell me more
about it if I thought I might be interested.
After I returned to work, she told me about her program of Overeaters
Anonymous. She loaned me her Big Book to read and invited me to attend
meetings with her.
I must admit, though, that I was a skeptic and didn't really expect this
program to work any better than the multitude of diets that I had tried or
the weight loss groups I had attended, but I was willing to give it a try.
I had a difficult time relating to the fellowship when I first started
attending meetings. All I could think of was, "These poor people have such
problems and all I need to do is lose weight." I thought I was different.
The writer of the story mentions having "tremendous pride and the will power
to function in all ordinary circunstances." I, too, had a lot of pride and
thought I was managing my life pretty well. As I attended more meetings,
however, I began to realize that I was not managing my life well at all. I
also began to relate to the members of the fellowship and their sharing and
became willing to admit that I could possibly be overeating for reasons
other than "I just liked to eat."
What I have discovered was that this program really works. It has shown me
a new way to live, helped me to better understand myself, have better
relationships with the people in my life and has helped me to build a
relationship with "the God of my understanding." Oh, yes, a fringe benefit
of working my program has been a loss of weight for which I am very
grateful. I came into Overeaters Anonymous just to lose weight but I
received so much more.
Thank you, O.A., for being here for me. I really need you.
Love in recovery,
Barbara
Hi everyone,
THE QUESTIONS
2. I have heard the statement, "It's about the food until it's not about the food." What does this statement mean to you?
3. The write of the story indicated he had nothing to escape from, yet he was an alcoholic. Have you ever felt the same way about yourself in relation to the food? Explain
It is the sharing of our collective experience, strength, hope and wisdom inspired by our reading of this Big Book together that will make a difference in our recovery. *It would be helpful to you as you read along to substitute the word food for alcohol and compulsive eater for alcoholic. I hope all of you will join us on our journey through the Big Book.
Thank you all for being part of this group!
Love in recovery,
Barbara
 Back |
 Top |
 Next |
JOIN US
BIG BOOK COMPLETE TEXT
Copyright © 1999 ~ The RECOVERY Group
![[IMAGE]](../../image/bigbooklogo1.gif)
![[IMAGE]](../../image/dovec.gif)