Those of us who are members of AA have heard many times that the "-ism" in alcoholism stands for "I, Self, Me."

It would be easy to think that getting rid of I, Self, Me simply involves adopting more unselfish behavior. If we're thinking of ourselves less, that means we must be thinking of other people more. And to some extent that works. But only to some extent.

When we start to practice Steps 10, 11 and 12 sincerely on a daily basis, we find that -- despite our work on the previous nine Steps -- it's still very much the case that "I may not be much, but I'm all I ever think about," as people often say in meetings. No amount of attempting to fix my thoughts on something other than myself can ever fully resolve this problem, simply because I'm still trying to exercise my own will in order to free myself from my own will. In the practice of meditation we begin at last to find some relief from the incessant demands of I, Self, Me. We discover that the Eleventh Step focus on the world of the Spirit, together with the practice of good conduct that characterizes our Step 10 work and the wisdom that comes from the working of Step 12, take us further along the path that leads away from "the bondage of self."