Complete the Housecleaning

"Time after time, newcomers have tried to keep to themselves shoddy facts about their lives. Trying to avoid the humbling experience of the Fifth Step, they have turned to easier methods. Almost invariably they got drunk. Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell.
 
 We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock.

LETTING GO OF OUR OLD SELVES

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 . . . Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? 
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS pp. 75, 76

The Sixth Step is the last "preparation" Step. Although I have already used prayer extensively, I have made no formal request of my Higher Power in the first Six Steps. I have identified my problem, come to believe that there is a solution, made a decision to seek this solution, and have "cleaned house." I now ask:

WE FORGIVE. . . .

Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors
or spiritual adviser that we first felt truly able to
forgive others, no matter how deeply we felt they had
wronged us. Our moral inventory had persuaded us that
all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was only when
we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew
we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58

IT'S OKAY TO BE ME

Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives . . . they have turned to easier methods . . . But they had not learned enough humility . . . 

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 72-73

Humility sounds so much like humiliation, but it really is the ability to look at myself - and honestly accept what I find. I no longer need to be the "smartest" or "dumbest" or any other "est." Finally, it is okay to be me.

A RESTING PLACE

 

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to talk about them, and decided it was time to stop carrying this burden alone, I needed to confess those defects to someone else. I had read - and been told - I could not stay sober unless I did.
 

RESPECT FOR OTHERS

Such parts of our story we tell to someone who will understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is we must be hard on our self, but always considerate of others.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 74

Respect for others is the lesson that I take out of this passage. I must go to any lengths to free myself if I wish to find that peace of mind that I have sought for so long. However, none of this must be done at another's expense. Selfishness has no place in the A.A. way of life.