Corking the Bottle

Step 10, 11, 12 Step 10, 11, 12 Step 10, 11, 12 I'm not being redundant, but I am being repetitive. When we work A.A.'s Twelve Steps, 1-9 are complete -- until you feel like you need a refresher do-over. But steps 10, 11, and 12 are supposed to be repeated and repeated often. Continuously. Here are those steps. Please read them, if they aren't already burned into your brain, and note that they are meant to be practiced all the time. 10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

We must take ownership of our actions. As Mark said at A.A., "The cookie broke. No, say 'I broke the cookie.'" Step 10 tells us: "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." That brings us back to junior high English class and to my many years as a journalist and corporate writer. Don't use passive voice if you know the actor. Use active voice. To say, "The door was left open," or "The door was left open by me" is weaker than "I left the door open." "The house was broken into," or "Thieves broke into the house"? "The beer was drunk," or "I drank the beer (and now I am drunk")? I need to take ownership of my actions. And when I am wrong, promptly admit it.

My younger daughter flew in on Thursday following a training trip to New Orleans. When she left her home in Colorado Springs, she didn't expect a stopover in Louisville. She arrived with a suitcase of dirty clothes, which she immediately washed at my house. With her clothes cleaned, she was able to move on and enjoy her visit. She took care of yesterday's baggage, which is what we all need to do daily, metaphorically speaking. Going back to A.A.'s Daily Reflection from October 5, "I have more than enough to handle today, without dragging along yesterday's baggage too. I must balance today's books, if I am to have a chance tomorrow. So I ask myself if I have erred and how I can avoid repeating that particular behavior. Did I hurt anyone, did I help anyone, and why? Some of today is bound to spill over into tomorrow, but most of it need not if I make an honest daily inventory." That leads us to A.A.'s Step 10, which I try to follow at the end of ev...

Yesterday's A.A. Reflection said, in part, "Some of today is bound to spill over into tomorrow, but most of it need not if I make an honest daily inventory." Step 4 of A.A.'s 12 Steps tells us to "make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." Step 10 tells us to continually "take personal inventory and when we (are) wrong, promptly (admit) it." If we leave our dirty dishes in the sink all night, they will still need washed tomorrow. If we ignore them again, they keep piling up, and the spaghetti sauce from three days ago becomes dry and harder to clean off. You may be surprised to know that "procrastination" is a four-letter word. So clean those dishes each day. Don't go to bed without taking an honest inventory of your day, and admit your wrongs. Writing down your inventory at bedtime might be helpful to you. Don't allow your kitchen sink to spill over into tomorrow. See how much better you will feel.