Tuesday, November 3rd
I often confused humility with shame and punishment.
Many of us entered recovery carrying burdens of past humiliations and feelings of shame. For some, our shame might have evolved into self-loathing. We may have perceived that other people dismissed us as unworthy, which reinforced our desire to escape through sexual acting out.
We often associated the term “humility” with humiliation, believing we were “less than.” Some of us believed that we needed to be shamefaced in dealing with others and to ask for mercy for our general unworthiness.
Step Seven says “Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.” Still, we might question how our asking will lead to any real changes.
We can think of humility simply as accepting that we do not have all the answers and cannot control the outcome. We may learn to accept and trust a Higher Power as we define it. If we are willing, we turn our will and our lives over to that power and ask for guidance.
Humility is being fully prepared to accept the “how, why, and where” of what happens. By placing that trust, we can humbly ask our Higher Power — working in us — to help us take our next right actions.
In letting go, we discover a spirituality that works.