Step 10 directs us to continue to take personal inventory and when wrong to properly admit it. The goal here is to rid ourselves of negativity quickly which could turn into resentment. We don’t want to end up with a long list again of persons we need to make amends to. Step 10 could be said to be our housekeeping step. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (pg,84) states that we “continue
to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear.” When, not if, maybe, kind of, not me, or I’m cured now thoughts crop up we see their folly. The book tells us that they are going to crop up from time to time. The thing we want to do is to nip these things in the bud, so they do not cause harm to ourselves or others. As the length of our sobriety increases, we become better able to deal with these things. We do not want to carry around feelings of anger and fear. We have the tools which we learned by taking all 12 steps to deal with these things when they crop up.
The tools are making amends quickly, doing away with our selfish motives, prayer, and meditation. There are many more tools, but I just listed the ones I deem most often used. The Big Book also states that when it appears that we are not getting relief from a defect of
character or shortcoming, working with another alcoholic may just be the thing to alleviate the negativity. That’s why it is so important to work and interact with other sober people or people who are trying to get sober. Meetings are a great place to find help when these things crop up and just will not go away. We can talk to another sober member about the defect or shortcomings. We can seek out direction as to what this person does when they are faced with this dilemma. This may help us come to a better approach of our own to ridding ourselves of these objectionable things.
Step 10 helps us to remain happy, joyous, and free from toxic feelings. These types of feelings and thoughts were why we became alcoholics. We now have the tools for release from the woes of active alcoholism. We try to keep our side of the street clean when it comes to dealing with others. We are ready to help the suffering alcoholic achieve relief from the pain of alcoholism. And in turn, we are the ones who probably received the most help by working with others. When all else fails, this is what we do in order to stay sober. We must give it away in order to keep it!
