which is an acronym for Keep It Spiritually Simple
KISS is an acronym for Keep It Spiritually Simple. I like that better than the one that I heard first, Keep It Simple Stupid.
There is too much name-calling going on so we don’t need to add to it.
We say many times that the AA Program is a simple program for complicated folks. The problem that many have with this is mixing simple with easy.
Google defines simple as “easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty” while defining easy as “presenting few difficulties.”
The difficulties enter this situation of getting and keeping sober when alcohol is added to the equation.
Many of the other alcoholics that I have known shared a similar trait with me — that of having problems dealing with life coming at us starting with the big things and ending up dealing with even the smallest of problems.
I was always reading between the lines when someone was talking to see what they “really” meant. If someone said something simple to me I was always looking for the problem.
Even a compliment directed at me was met with the feeling of “what did they really mean?” or else a long dissertation on that I would give about why I didn’t deserve the compliment.
Many people, especially alcoholics, can not take compliments well. We blow off so many kind words and then wonder why no one says nice things to us anymore.
The 12 Steps of this amazing program are very simple in their makeup. There is no hidden meaning between the lines. It is put out straightforwardly, and still, we are suspicious of what it really means.
Step 1 says we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. End of pondering this. Simplicity says either we are or are not. End of the story, right?
OK, let’s spice the story up and make it harder by adding some difficulty such as “I can quit any time that I want” or “I still have a family and job so my life is not totally unmanageable!” “I’m not as bad as some that I know!”
Simple but not always easy! Simply accept the facts as they are and move on.
Steps 2 and 3 mention a Higher Power. “…and my God is a judging, punishing God.” Think of all of the natural phenomena that can not be explained by what a human can or can not perform and so-called miracles.
There is definitely a Higher Power of some kind.
Try “faking it until you make it” and “pretend” to believe and move on with your life. Once again, simple but not always easy.
Why the difference? Because we recall past experiences with similar situations and are possibly filled with dread because we just know that it will happen again.
Our past clouds and soils our nows. For me, the best thing to do is not think too much. Live in the now. My best thinking got me into the messes of my life.
At this point, we truly know right from wrong and so I simply go on the assumption that if it feels right, do it. If I am apprehensive at all, postpone or cease doing it.
The simpler I keep it the more comfortable I am. The name of my game is comfort for Jim Boylan. So, if it feels good, it will not be bad. So I do it! You can, too! Thank you, God!
You might also like this story.
If you like this, please share it on Facebook and Twitter.