Dear Friends in Recovery,

My name is Mari Cokely and I am a grateful recovering compulsive overeater and addict. This is an excerpt from my Journey to Recovery.

"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

~~THE SEVENTH STEP~~

The Twelve Steps of Recovery

When I began this journey to recovery, I really didn't even know what they were talking about when they said the "steps." Oh, somewhere in the back part of my mind, I knew about Twelve Step programs but I had never consciously really thought much about them. I am in amazement every time I think about my provincialism .... that such an important part of life had just slipped by me.

The more I go into my program, the more I see this as a program for everyone. There is literally NO one in my life who would not benefit from a program of working the 12 Steps. It may have started with Alcoholics Anonymous and continued on through NA, OA, Alanon and dozens of other 12-step programs .... but I see it as a way of life for everyone. Would I be overzealous if I suggested it be taught in high school?

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings? How does one ask God something like that HUMBLY? I have a mental picture of me down on my knees with my eyes heavenward and my hands folded saying "Oh my God, woulds't thou pleeeeeeze remove my shortcomings." And I would say that in the most contrite voice possible.

No, my friends, this is not what the Seventh Step means by being humble. So ... how do we work the seventh step with humility? I even wanted to grumble a little when I thought about having to do a step with humility. As COs we have suffered enough humiliation to last a lifetime. Part of being humble .... part of humility .... is acceptance. We must accept our character defects ... acknowledge them ..... and, as painful as that may be, by doing so we accept ourselves.

When we humbly accept ourselves .... we can take that wonderful Step Seven and tell God that we do. We can simply say to our Higher Power that we are this way. We want to be better. We want to be the best we can be. And because we know that only by the grace of God , can we can rid ourselves of our CDs, we plunge in head-first and HUMBLY ask Him to remove our shortcomings.