Dear Fellow Travelers, Step Ten Essay Dear God, I'm getting goose bumps as I think of all who have come this far with us. I say "us" because, as with everything else in my life, You are responsible for the outcome, as each minute I spend researching these steps and what I think they mean to me, and have in fact meant to me over the years. Taking into account the many years my fear kept me at arm's length from steps four through nine, I have spent almost a third of my life seeking to do the next right thing. And now, here we stand before our creator, as each of us defines our creator, and become willing once again to reach out every day, seeking only God's will for us. Every act, word or inaction is looked at and examined to see if it measures up to our new way of living. We use steps ten, eleven and twelve to keep us in contact with our H.P., our fellows, and the rest of God's world, so they may see, touch and feel the goodness we have found. We find out the "more" that does us good is "more spiritual recovery." All of each of our lives is now being steered by the God of our understanding. We will make mistakes every day, at least I do, and repairing the damage as soon as is possible gives a great satisfaction at days end. That satisfaction comes whether our amends is accepted or not, as we do this for our well being as well as the other party. We have made tremendous strides in the first nine steps, such as doing God's will, getting rid of the emotional and mental liabilities, and in cultivating such assets as courage, humility and understanding. This is spiritual growth, and the possibilities are enormous, as each new day brings us challenges and opportunities. The deep empty pit we filled with food is now overflowing with a new and better way of life. We no longer need to fill our pit with excess food. The way to keep our program strong and viable is to keep growing and learning, as for sure our disease waits for the complacency: each meeting missed, newcomer not welcomed, some poor unguided soul searching for a sponsor but we are too busy living this new wonderful life. Did anyone mention that this way of life needs to be shared or surely it will be lost? Step ten, then, is but one way to keep our recovery fresh and strong. No one is going to maintain our spiritual life - that we must do on a daily basis. We are either moving forward or backsliding, as it is not possible to stand still. Honesty, courage, love of others, faith, responsibility and understanding, held out to all who cross our path, is our new business. It does become a habit and gets easier as time goes by. Maintaining what we have is for us a life and death choice, and it is made every day. Some days are better than others, and there will be days when the heart is filled with hate and rage. Step ten is a true life-saver to me at these times. It has been proven that failure to do these three steps leads to a slow suicide, sometimes not so slow. Your choice. Step ten suggests that we continue to take a personal inventory, and when wrong, we right that wrong as soon as is possible. This helps in keeping our lives in order and at peace with our world. We admit when wrong and forgive when right. How do you know when to take an inventory? I do so each night when the room is dark and the day eases in and out of my mind. I do not believe anyone does not know when things are not right, and we need to catch our part real fast, then clear up our side only. At any time of the day, if our abstinence is threatened, we take a good look at the why and whereof - what is truly bothering us. This may be a good time to discuss doing a tenth step on our f2f meetings or our online meetings. Are we doing enough to make the newcomer feel welcome? Are we living up to our creed to help all who come our way to stop eating compulsively? Do our meetings begin and end on time, do we have the proper literature on hand? If there is a leader or speaker, do they stick to the solution and not the problem? These steps make me climb up on a soapbox, so I'll apologize for being so long-winded. Gee, did I just do a 10th step?? :-) AND WHY NOT........Danny