It’s been 5 weeks since my 5th step, so it’s time to be working on the next step, though I’m not sure how I become “ready to have God remove all my defects of character.” Sounds a lot like step 2, where we “came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” For me, step 2 was a time when I gave up completely, when I had no more will, when I surrendered utterly to whatever would come. I was not afraid, though I was resigned and relieved. This is similar to the feeling I had after doing my 5th step–not so much resigned as relieved that someone besides me now knows all of my weaknesses and even shares some of my character defects 🙂 I feel much more uplifted now (with the 6th) than I did before (with the 2nd). Yay!

And then there’s the 7th step: “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.” This step seems aligned with step 3, in which we “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” For me, I made the decision about a month after step 2. Again, it wasn’t a pleasant experience; however, I’m hoping the 7th will be better than the 3rd.

In the mean time, I’ll start working on that amends list (step 8).