Recovered Alcoholic

List of the  principal virtues  that are named in the two basic texts of AA. In alphabetical order these are: acceptance- compassion-consideration- courage- courtesy-discretion- faith- forgiveness- fortitude-frankness-generosity-gentleness- gratitude- harmony- honesty- hope- humility integrity- joy- justice-kindness- love- mercy-moderation-modesty- open-mindedness- patience-peace-perseverance-prudence-restraint- s erenity- simplicity- sincerity-temperance- tolerance trust- understanding- willingness- wisdom . These virtues are variously embedded in different Steps. Those in boldface are the ones that will ring a bell with most of us. We may easily link many of them to specific Steps.  Humility  with Steps 1 and 7 Open-mindedness and hope  with Step 2 Willingness, acceptance, serenity, courage and wisdom  with Step 3.  Faith  we may connect with Steps 2, 3, 6, 7 and 11 Forgiveness  with Steps 8, 9 and 10. Honesty , one of ...

The Discipline of Self-Examination The discipline of self-examination begins with  Step 4 , where we make a  “searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”  While various terms are used to designate this discipline (including self-appraisal and self-survey), the Big Book’s  emphasis on  “inventory”  is meant to highlight a practical, no-nonsense, business-like approach to this traditional spiritual practice. Our inventory is a  “fact-finding and a fact-facing”  enterprise. It is not an exercise in religious breast-beating, gnostic enlightenment, or psychoanalytical probes of our unconscious. Juxtaposing “moral” with "inventory" further underscores the practical nature of our undertaking. For the facts that we set out to find and to face are the facts about the way we have lived and the kind of people we have become.  A moral inventory takes stock of our character and how the defects that have warped it have also warped o...