It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. 12 & 12, p. 90
I never truly understood the Tenth Step’s spiritual axiom until I had the following experience. I was sitting in my bedroom, reading into the wee hours, when suddenly I heard my dogs barking in the back yard. My neighbors frown on this kind of disturbance so, with mixed feelings of anger and shame, as well as fear of my neighbor’s disapproval, I immediately called in my dogs. Several weeks later the exact situation repeated itself but this time, because I was feeling more at peace with myself, I was able to accept the situation–dogs will bark–and I calmly called in the dogs. Both incidents taught me that when a person experiences nearly identical events and reacts two different ways, then it is not the event that is of prime importance, but the person’s spiritual condition. Feelings come from inside, not from outward circumstances. When my spiritual condition is positive, I react positively.
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This reading becomes more meaningful as I become more sober. To ‘be in the wrong ‘ isn’t an indictment; it is a statement about how we are choosing to live. To stay attached to errors or to become more creative and loving.
how true, our attitude makes all the difference in the world. Is the glass half empty or half full. try to keep a good attidute by being grateful.
We read the 10th step in a meeting last night and it was the first time the syntax of “.. there is something wrong with us.” bothered me. I completely understand the concept and have experienced it’s truth throughout my 20+ years of sobriety, but the description of something being wrong with me hit a button last night. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get beyond the feeling of something being “wrong” with me. It is important for me to translate Bill’s way of writing and recognize that when something is bothering (disturbing) me, the problem lies within me. I can choose to accept my part in that disturbance and do something about it, or continue to be disturbed.
Bree: the reason you have a problem with the quote is that it is totally untrue. There is nothing wrong with a person who becomes disturbed following being maltreated or abused. It is worth noting that the mere fact that Bill W (a notorious con-artist and womanizer) wrote something does not make it true. Much if not all of AA literature is nonsense.