We Do Recover

[MajestyJo]

Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we were willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Remember when I came into recovery, when I heard the words, we are not saints, I use to say to myself, "Speak for yourself." Not very spiritual, all about me, with no thought of others, or I looked down on someone who didn't think like I did and do what I KNEW to be right.

Thank God it is progress not perfection. All my life I was raised to believe if it wasn't perfect, it wasn't good enough, and neither was I for doing something less than. Not only the expectation put on me by others, but the ones I put on myself, were just not feasible and most times the goals were unreachable. I was a mistake, I was a less than, I was an excuse for a human being, and how could God love me when I didn't like me, and was so far from perfect. Angel and saint I will never be, yet there came a time in my recovery when I was told, "Oh, you are that Spiritual lady."

It is good to know that I can make a mistake and it doesn't mean I am one. I can do less than perfect, I can just try to be the best me I can be in today. Some days I fall short of what I think my God wants me to be in today, and that is why there are Steps 6 and 7, to follow Steps 4 and 5.

Practice the principles in all our affairs. Take my recovery out of the rooms and apply them to my home life and in the community.