And as we grow spiritually, we find that our old attitudes toward our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions.

The Twelve Step way of life is humble but not in any way meek.

God, not me, makes me different by giving me what it takes to change. It is my job to act and behave like the change has occurred. In doing this, the process of change happens. Frequently this involves emotional pain; the pain of living the way I have been becomes greater than the fear of change. It also involves the pain of attracting seemingly

It is important to question. That is how we learn.

By acting worthy of trust, we gain the trust of others and ourselves.

For another insight, let’s return to Shoemaker, who believed progress in the spiritual life is based on our looking inward and upward, not outward and downward.

Prayer is seeing answers and direction in life. Meditation is listening for answers from a Higher Power and developing the ability within ourselves to accept the answers. Reflection is the study of ways to turn the answers we get from prayer and meditation into action. Reflection is the study of meaning and uses of the Twelve Steps. It is not a

“The principles of Twelve Step recovery are the opposite of our character defects.”

The second defect is envy (the desire for other’s traits, status, abilities or situation). Envy is a form of fear. Just like pride, envy has a lot to do with results—other people’s.