Losing self-will
“Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we are in
harmony with a loving God. We find that we lead richer, happier, and much fuller
lives when we lose self-will.”
Basic Text p.101
Addiction and self-will go hand in hand. The unmanageability that we admitted to in
Step One was as much a product of our self-will as it was of our chronic drug abuse.
And today, living on self-will can make our lives just as unmanageable as they were
when we were using. When our ideas, our desires, our demands take first place in
our lives, we find ourselves in constant conflict with everyone and everything around
us.
Self-will reflects our reliance on ego. The only thing that will free us from self-will
and the conflict it generates in our lives is to break our reliance on ego, coming to
rely instead on the guidance and power offered us by a loving God.
We are taught to consult spiritual principles, not our selfish desires, in making our
decisions. We are taught to seek guidance from a Higher Power, one with a larger
vision of things than our own. In doing this, we find our lives meshing more and
more easily with the order of things around us. No longer do we exclude ourselves
from the flow of life; we become a part of it, and discover the fullness of what
recovery has to offer.
Just for today: I seek freedom from ego and the conflicts generated by self-will. I will
try to improve my conscious contact with the God of my understanding, seeking the
guidance and power I need to live in harmony with my world.