Step 7: The Hope to Push Onward
As I mentioned in previous blogs, the steps are in a certain order for a reason. Each one builds off the last and prepares us for the next. We see the defect in Step 4, and we share with our sponsor in Step 5. In Step 6, we are aware of that defect and when we are ready, we take Step 7 by asking Him to remove the defect – this is a program of subtraction rather than addition.
We saw how damaging these defects can be when we did our 4th and 5th steps, so now it’s time to get rid of them, and we cannot do it by ourselves. We must have God’s help and we must surrender as we “humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings.”
Step 7 is about humility and practicing modesty. I practiced this step every day by trying to better myself one step at a time. In my active addiction, I was incredibly selfish, and while working Step 7 I was actively trying to change that. If someone asked me to do something I didn’t really feel up to, I would push myself to do it – one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. I started to change my selfish behavior by doing more for others. The feeling I experience after helping someone else is more rewarding than I can describe sometimes. It was a natural high I hadn’t experienced in years, and I was so grateful in that moment that I was able to truly feel it. It was those moments that I held onto and they gave me the hope to push onward.
