Food for thought for the new year 2012…
The process of getting organized is transformational. It is systemic. It impacts every single aspect of a person’s life and well-being. When you are disorganized, you feel it….
Recently, a client and I were talking about the signature features of 12-Step Programs (such as Alcoholics Anonymous) and how relevant she feels they are to her life-long challenges with time and organization. She is on her own path to wellness and attends Al-Anon meetings regularly for support with her work-aholic tendencies that keep her from living a life she loves.
After one of our coaching sessions, I reviewed the signature 12-steps to overcoming addiction. While the 12 steps are the cornerstones for transformation and recovery for many people, what I discovered during my research were the “12 PROMISES” that become available as people work through each of the 12 Steps. Here they are:
The 12 Promises
(Written as an excerpt from pps. 83-84 of the Big Book*.)
“If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through . . .
- We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
- We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
- We will comprehend the word serenity.
- We will know peace.
- No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
- That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
- We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
- Self-seeking will slip away.
- Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
- Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
- We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
- We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fullfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.”
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Just as the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion showed up on the Yellow Brick Road to show Dorothy and Toto the way “home”, I’ve seen these promises come true for real people on their transformational journey to getting organized.
These Promises are not sure-fire “results”, but they do show up along the way, on one’s journey to wellness…. as they clear their spaces, define their systems, heal themselves, and establish the support they need along the way.
If disorganization is in the way of living your life in a way you love, is it time for you to do something about it? Are the promises above calling to you in a way that makes you feel ready to take action?
Check out the health of your sanity dimensions by taking my free assessments of your SPACE, your SYSTEMS, your SELF, and your SUPPORT.
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*The Big Book: First published in 1939 and subtitled The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism, the Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) ‘Big Book’, as it is commonly called, is the first text written about the experiences of the founders of the A.A. movement. It tells the story of Bill W., one of the co-founders of A.A. and how the program worked in the early days of the movement. It is full of much timeless and practical wisdom and is the first standard (and some would say the only standard) text of A.A. and, subsequently, of 12 step programs.
For more information, you can read the book online (2nd edition) or you can download the book (496 KB download size) in PDF format.
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