Back to Basics

Step 3

A Life Run on Self-Will

Chapter 5 - How It Works

Page 60, paragraph 4, lines 1-8

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result
of these steps, we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all
our affairs.

Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go
through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one
among us has been able to maintain anything like per-
fect adherence to these principles. We are not saints.
The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual
lines. The principles we have set down are guides to
progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than
spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the
agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after
make clear three pertinent ideas:

(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage
our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have re-
lieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.

Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is
that we decided to turn our will and our life over to
God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean by
that, and just what do we do?

The first requirement is that we be convinced that
any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On
that basis we are almost always in collision with some-­
thing or somebody, even though our motives are good.
Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each per-
son is like an actor who wants to run the whole show;
is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the
scenery and the rest of the players in his own way.
If

Selfishness Blocks from God's Will:

Chapter 5 - How It Works

Page 62, paragraph 1, entire paragraph and paragraph 2, lines 1-8

if the rest of the world would only behave; the outlaw
safe cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and
the alcoholic who has lost all and is locked up. What­
ever our protestations, are not most of us concerned
with ourselves, our resentments, or our self-pity?

Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the
root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of
fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step
on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Some­
times they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but
we invariably find that at some time in the past we
have made decisions based on self which later placed
us in a position to be hurt.

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own
making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic
is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he
usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alco­
holics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it
kills us! God makes that possible. And there often
seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without
His aid.
Many of us had moral and philosophical con­
victions galore, but we could not live up to them even
though we would have liked to. Neither could we
reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or try­
ing on our own power. We had to have God’s help.

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to
quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided
that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to
be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His
agents. He is the Father, and we are His children.
Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the
keystone of the new and triumphant arch through
which we passed to freedom.

A Life Guided by the Vision of God's Will

Chapter 5 - How It Works

Page 62, paragraph 3, lines 1-4 and lines 6-8

if the rest of the world would only behave; the outlaw
safe cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and
the alcoholic who has lost all and is locked up. What­
ever our protestations, are not most of us concerned
with ourselves, our resentments, or our self-pity?

Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the
root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of
fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step
on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Some­
times they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but
we invariably find that at some time in the past we
have made decisions based on self which later placed
us in a position to be hurt.

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own
making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic
is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he
usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alco­
holics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it
kills us! God makes that possible. And there often
seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without
His aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical con­
victions galore, but we could not live up to them even
though we would have liked to. Neither could we
reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or try­
ing on our own power. We had to have God’s help.

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to
quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided
that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to
be our Director.
He is the Principal; we are His
agents. He is the Father, and we are His children.
Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the
keystone of the new and triumphant arch through
which we passed to freedom.

Chapter 5 - How It Works

Page 63, paragraph 1, entire paragraph

When we sincerely took such a position, all sorts of
remarkable things followed. We had a new Employer.
Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if
we kept close to Him and performed His work well.
Established on such a footing we became less and less
interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs.
More and more we became interested in seeing what
we could contribute to life. As we felt new power
flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered
we could face life successfully, as we became con­-
scious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of
today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our
Maker, as we understood Him: “God, I offer myself to
Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou
wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may
better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that
victory over them may bear witness to those I would
help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always!’’ We thought well before
taking this step making sure we were ready; that we
could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.

We found it very desirable to take this spiritual step
with an understanding person, such as our wife, best
friend, or spiritual adviser. But it is better to meet God
alone than with one who might misunderstand. The
wording was, of course, quite optional so long as we
expressed the idea, voicing it without reservation.
This was only a beginning, though if honestly and
humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one,
was felt at once.

Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action,
the first step of which is a personal housecleaning,

3RD STEP PRAYER (page 63, paragraph 2, lines 2-8): “God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!"