Foundation for Change need not be Fear.

My foundation for recovery has changed a lot over the years.
Fear not Faith
“Let us obsess about freedom, not fear.”

Our priorities, change through the gifts of Recovery and through learning self-mastery. Faith serves as the firm foundation for courage in the future. And so many of us struggle with that word faith. Because we automatically connect to the same struggle we have with religion or with God.

Faith is a spiritual principle in and of itself.

It’s one of the 12 essential spiritual principles mentioned throughout the JnP Steps Meditations. In listing the Principles in order (as I learned them) Faith is listed as number seven. The reason why I point this out is that step seven is the first step where my faith started becoming unconditional. It’s in step seven that we ‘humbly asked Him’ to remove our shortcomings.

It was tough to be unconditionally honest,

It was tough to be unconditionally honest and open and willing to ask to have my shortcomings removed humbly. Because man, I’m so comfortable with my shortcomings. I’m so comfortable with the defects within my character. I’m used to them. I grew up with them. I know them well. They know me well.

A lot of times, especially early on when I was first getting clean again, I would walk around with a massive chip on my shoulder. The reason I had that chip on my shoulder was that I wanted your attention. I wanted your attention to either feed my ego or hide my low self-esteem. Most likely, both.

I was afraid to show you I was hurting.

Faith is not a lack of fear. Faith is the principle that gives me the strength to walk through my fears. When I look back, I can see that almost every single one of my shortcomings is a direct result of my anger and my anger cannot exist without fear. It is impossible to be angry without being afraid. Every single time I’ve ever been angry, the foundation of that anger was fear in some way form or fashion.

The foundation behind the Unconditional Faith I’m talking about had to do with ‘coming to believe in a power greater than myself’. I’m not necessarily talking about God. I’m really not. That came later. That relationship built on its own. What I am talking about is the power that’s greater than myself, not the entity, not the deity, not the ‘One’ I struggled with for years.

I have never met anybody angry at God who didn’t believe in him.

It’s impossible to be angry at something you don’t believe in. So if you’re mad at God, guess what? You believe on some level. Don’t get me wrong. I know a few atheists that don’t believe in God ‘as we understand him.’ They do believe in a Power greater than themselves.

They believe in the spiritual principles.

These spiritual principles are universal. You can find them, in some form, in just about every religion or belief system.  Including Faith. It has been through learning to practice these 12 essential principles, unconditionally, that I have begun to tap into that, “Power Greater than Myself.” It has been and continues to be these principles which remain the foundation for my recovery. They are my Foundation for Change.

“Always aspire to inspire, before we expire.”

PaulDavid

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