“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out”.
The step invites us to keep connection with our spiritual and inner natural child. It is about focus and priority to this process and using the structure of time to achieve this.
When we retire at night we constructively review our day. This includes how we felt and how we behaved and if we could have done things differently. It asks if we were thinking of ourselves most of the time and if we had the space for others. Its asks if corrective measures would be of benefit and if we were struggling did we reach out.
On awakening the step invites us to think about the day ahead. To consider our plans and to ask for direction. To use our principled way of living to guide us through the hours ahead. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.
Mid-day Focus is important to this process to check in where we are. We may face indecision and may not always be able to determine which course to take. We can ask for inspiration, direction, intuitive thought or a decision itself. Its recognising that we don’t have to struggle alone and being able to relax with this. With this connection its surprising how the right answers come, even if this is after a period of time.
As we go through the day we feel less isolated and alone. Its relieves any agitation or doubt as we feel more and more as the days go on that we can ask for the right thoughts and actions. We don’t have to run the show alone which in the past could have been overwhelming and frightening.
Through time we can feel much less in danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity or foolish decisions. There is a healing process when we become more efficient and we tire less easily with life. Instead building our energy and getting a magical zest that had been missing for a long time. This is about not burning up energy foolishly with the “Old Stuff” and “Script” thoughts, feelings and behaviours that used to tire us out.
The Script was about trying to arrange life to suit ourselves which burns energy and leads to games with negative pay-off’s and often pain. Similarly addiction is about feeding the self for one’s own need which becomes destructive and painful.
Following the Step 11 keeps a connection to the healthy and wholesome part of self and the spiritual higher power. This is where we feed off a different emotional diet which benefits the heart and soul.