“I don’t see how I can have any fun if I can’t drink and play golf, play cards, ride motorcycles, dance, go fishing, or just enjoying living” or you name it. Spirituality, as we have been discussing it, is not something that deters enjoyment in playful and utile activities but actually enhances it. I not only enjoy doing the activities that I did when I was drinking but also more and actually remember doing them all. I am also doing them better than before. Instead of being bored, I often wonder how I found time to work before. I also enjoy what I do even more now too because what I do is more a matter of choice rather than just taking care of needs.
When I start the day off with my spiritual readings and ask for the knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry it out, it seems like I just naturally do the next right thing. This sounds like the 11th Step, huh? The next right thing is not usually drudgery, either. It is something that just makes me feel good and right. The next right thing may be helping another alcoholic or someone else who needs assistance. It also could be just having a good time doing whatever I wish. We have been given a new conscience. No longer do we have to continually say “I’m sorry” but we do really know when we have done something wrong and take care of it right away? Sounds like the 10th Step, huh?
I have been shown by my saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over, that they soon go in one’s ear and out of the other. They pay little or no attention to what I say because I have shown them nothing different. The same can be sometimes said when communicating with another. You say this but do you follow it up with action? I take the message of AA and impart it to others with words at first but then follow this up quickly with actions. A message is more believable with given so that it is received by more of the senses than simply audio. We had a phrase in the streets saying “All yack and no shack.” This is for someone who can say anything but fail to follow up with actions that can not only be heard but also seen, felt, touched, smelled, and so on. Does this remind anyone of how to properly work the 12th Step?
Everyday living encompasses all of the above. This is how Spirituality, in the form of working the AA program, is used in everything that we do.