Step Ten is when we practice the Spiritual Principle of Perseverance. We have to remember, Recovery is something we get to do. Not everyone gets this opportunity to learn about and practice Spiritual Principles while making mistakes along the way.
We give other people control over our lives when we say that they "make us" angry or afraid. The truth is that we usually say or do something that helps to create the conflicts in our lives. Step Ten suggests that we take responsibility for this fact, clean up our role in these matters, and practice forgiveness.
10) Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. The principle behind this step is Perseverance. Life isn't always easy, and it happens every day, but we persist in walking the path we believe to be right.
The purpose of AA's tenth step is to demonstrate to yourself that you have the ability to control your actions.
The 12 spiritual principles of recovery are as follows: acceptance, hope, faith, courage, honesty, patience, humility, willingness, brotherly love, integrity, self-discipline, and service.
Innocence, wisdom, pure desire and knowledge, self-mastery, compassion, collectivity and diplomacy, forgiveness and an unshaken and proven knowledge of the existence of the divine power are some of the most important qualities of a spiritual person.
It is known in the rooms of AA that the spiritual principles are the Twelve Steps. To be thorough, the 36 principles are the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. There are many different spiritual virtue lists that refer to the Twelve Steps which have been printed by other AA's over the years.
Step Ten Promise
“And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame.
Step 10 in Action
Page 85 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous tells us: This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past.
10th Step Prayer
God, please help me watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear. When these crop up in me, help me to immediately ask you to remove them from me and help me discuss these feelings with someone.
For me, the principle of perseverance is about the persistence of growth, and self-awareness: Being mindful of my actions, my truths, thoughts, and emotions. I'm consistently trying to improve my life, to be a better person, friend, father, and husband. I'm always looking for opportunities to grow.
Benefits of Step 10
By promptly facing mistakes and taking responsibility for them, it prevents situations from festering into resentments and anger that can become real problems.
A sponsor is also a confidant who understand where you have been. You can confide in your sponsor what you may not be comfortable sharing at meetings.
When issues are left unaddressed, they can easily snowball into anger, resentment, and irrevocably broken relationships. Alcoholics Anonymous calls this an “emotional hangover“—when your unresolved actions and negative feelings from yesterday seep into today, tomorrow, and thereafter.
Reading: pages 84-85.
Unlike previous chapters, Chapter 10 was not written entirely by Bill Wilson. In fact, it was penned by Hank Parkhurst, a friend and business associate of Bill's who got sober in 1935.
Jesus's life, death, and resurrection are part of God's divine rescue mission designed to give you the greatest promises of all: forgiveness for your sins, peace with God, and eternal life.
(1) Ego transcendence (self: beyond ego), (2) self-transcendence (beyond the self: the other), and (3) spiritual transcendence (beyond space and time).
If you take a moment to revisit the three pillars of spiritual well-being—relationships, values, and a meaningful purpose in life—you will see that these aspects are interwoven through the passages of each season (Seaward, 2007).
According to the results of our study, the three components of spiritual health are: religious, individualistic, and material world-oriented.
Our minds can be a link to Spirit through these 12 capacities: wisdom, love, strength, faith, imagination, order, understanding, will, power, zeal, release, and life itself. We can paint the life we want by focusing on, understanding, and cultivating these 12 spiritual powers.