12 Step Workshop - Fast Track To Sobriety
Step 5
"Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
Those of us who did their 4th step will soon be experiencing the promises that we will speak about in step 5, so congratulations!
Those of us who have not yet taken step 4, it is important for us to do so as soon as possible if we want the freedom we are looking for.
Let’s look at some of the promises in step 5:
P.75/paragraph 2: “We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the [drink] addiction problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.”
Q: Are we delighted?
Q: Do we feel we can look the world in the eye?
Q: Can we be alone at peace and ease?
Q: Have our fears started to fall away from us?
Q: Do we feel nearness to our Creator?
If we answered no, then we must have left something out from our step 5.
It says clearly “Once we have taken this step, withholding NOTHING …”
The promises only come true if we withhold NOTHING!
So go back and do it again until everything is revealed.
If we are not feeling the delight, then we are still hiding something.
P.75/half way down: “Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better. Taking this book down from our shelf we turn to the page which contains the twelve steps. Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last.”
Notice that before we move on to step 6 the authors ask that we carefully review what we have done so far. So let’s ask these questions:
Q: Have we admitted that we have no power over the addiction?
Q: Have we admitted that our lives have become unmanageable?
Q: Have we come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity?
Q: Have we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of G-d as we understand Him?
Q: Have we made a searching and fearless moral inventory?
Q: Have we admitted to ourselves, to G-d and to another the exact nature of our wrongs?
RECAP
Step 4 is where the MEN are separated from the BOYS!
We have seen that unless we LAUNCH into VIGOROUS action there will be little permanent effect of the first 3 steps.
So those of us that want what the Authors have, to live HAPPY, JOYOUS and FREE, will make time before continuing to complete steps 4 and 5.
It may seem hard, but that's why this is only for those who are desperate and have had enough of this illness.
Please find here a Step 4 inventory worksheet. Complete the worksheet as best you can (LEAVE PERFECTIONISM TO G-D). Then schedule a call to do a step 5 with your sponsor BEFORE moving on.
We cannot stress this enough, if you want REAL sobriety then we strongly suggest you work these steps first.
Schedule a 2 hour slot to go through step 5 with your sponsor. Your step 5 call with your sponsor involves you going through the completed step 4 worksheet and then admitting ALL your wrongs (even the things you did when you were a child).
If you have done step 5 properly and have left nothing out you will feel reborn. You will feel as though a HUGE weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
HAVE YOU WRITTEN OUT YOUR 4TH STEP INVENTORY?
HAVE YOU ADMITTED ALL YOUR WRONGS TO YOURSELF, G-D AND ANOTHER PERSON?
If you have answered YES to both questions then CONGRATULATIONS you are ready to take the next steps to recovery!