Step 5

[MajestyJo]

So many stop or don't attempt working the Steps because they see this one and say, "I could never do that!"

The key is "One" Step at a time. If and when you do the first four Steps, then you can look at this one. I once heard a long-timer say, "When you have a strong grasp of Step Three, quickly start a Step Four, there should never be a gap. If you have the faith of Step Three you will not allow time for fear to set in before you start your Step Four." He continued to say, "There can be a gap between Steps "Four and Five", but do not hesitate and procrastinate too long because I believe that the reason people with long-term sobriety relapse is because the skimped on this Step. I believe it tells us that in the Big Book also.

The thought that went through my head as I typed this was, "Never fear, God is here!" May sound like an old cliche, but it is very true if you ask Him to be with you in all that you say and do.

As I grew in the fellowship as a result of working the Steps, I found myself, I became more honest; I did more Step Fours and Fives. I am hoping to go through the Steps again with my sponsee. The Steps are about in the now. What from my past have I not let go of and what do I need to do to heal and move on with my life. This is a very freeing Step.

Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

“A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If we have swept the searchlight of Step Four back and forth over our careers, and it has revealed in stark relief those experiences we’d rather not remember, if we have come to know how wrong thinking and action have hurt us and others, then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.”

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 55

Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves,
and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.

“A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live
alone with our pressing problems and the character
defects which cause or aggravate them. If we have
swept the searchlight of Step Four back and forth
over our careers, and it has revealed in stark relief
those experiences we’d rather not remember, if we have
come to know how wrong thinking and action have hurt us
and others, then the need to quit living by ourselves
with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more
urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.”

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 55

Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

“What are we likely to receive from Step Five?
For one thing, we shall get rid of that terrible
sense of isolation we’ve always had. Almost without
exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness.
Even before our drinking got bad and people began
to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling
that we didn’t quite belong.”

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 57
Quote:
STEP FIVE: Admitted to God, to ourselves,
and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.

"More realism and therefore more honesty about
ourselves are the great gains we make under the
influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we
began to suspect how much trouble self-delusion
had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing
reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled
ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we
weren’t still self-deceived? How could we be certain
that we had made a true catalog of our defects and
had really admitted them, even to ourselves? Because
we were still bothered by fear, self-pity, and hurt feelings,
it was probable we couldn’t appraise ourselves fairly at
all. Too much guilt and remorse might cause us to
dramatize and exaggerate our shortcomings. Or anger
and hurt pride might be the smoke screen under which
we were hiding some of our defects while we blamed
others for them. Possibly, too, we were still handicapped
by many liabilities, great and small, we never knew we had.

"Hence it was most evident that a solitary self-appraisal,
and the admission of our defects based upon that alone,
wouldn’t be nearly enough. We’d have to have outside help
if we were surely to know and admit the truth about
ourselves—the help of God and another human being."

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pgs. 58-59

These quotes came from a Just For Today Daily Reading from AA, which is no longer available. They are from my own recovery sites.