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Working Steps 10 and 11 together


 
A friend in Program says:

The book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of AA says:

There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life.

This passage suggests an intimate link between these two Steps. In particular, while it says that there is benefit from working them alone, practicing them in tandem provides an actual "foundation for life."

In fact, the joint practice of these Steps changes our lives, as many of us have discovered. A significant change is our practice of Step 10, and for insight on this change we may care to look at the Narcotics Anonymous' treatment of the Tenth Step. This makes explicit that there are two aspects to the working of this Step -- the correction of errors we have made during the day, but also -- and perhaps more importantly -- the use of the Step to be sure that we don't make those errors in the first place. The Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous sees Step 10 as the key to seeing problems before they arise, by constantly being aware of our feelings. No AA text is as explicit about this practice; yet it's the key to changing our lives.

For Step 10 is meaningless if it is merely a repetition of Steps 4 thru 9. If we keep doing what we've been doing, we'll keep getting what we've been getting -- that is, a series of difficulties we create each day and repent of each night. But the NA approach to the practice of Step 10, aided by the calm and peace that comes from the daily working of Step 11, has the potential to change our lives by stopping us creating many of these difficulties in the first place.

"The spiritual life is never one of achievement:
it is always one of letting go."

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