Although we don't know how our lives will change as we work this step, we can learn to trust that our Higher Power will take care of us better than we could.
It works, Step Three
As newcomers, many of us struggle with aspects of twelve-step recovery that are not easily understood. Sure, spirituality is as practical as it sounds in rooms, but that doesn't mean it's simple. We describe our spiritual awakenings to younger members, but the explanations often cause more head-scratching. With most things in life—and count Step Three among them—we can't know the outcome until we experience it. The meaning of our decision to surrender our will to a loving Higher Power is lost on many of us. Instead of enlisting the power of our mind, we must cultivate hope, faith, and trust.
Hearing about the changes in the lives of other addicts gives us something to go on as we begin to develop some confidence in NA. We hear other members talk about trusting in a Higher Power they don't fully understand. We hear from people of faith, people who avoid religion, and everyone in between. According to one member, “Working on the Third Step is a decision to open a door. I may not know what's on the other side, but I've gained a certain confidence in that decision because I know my life hasn't fallen apart whenever I've opened that door."
Trust is a conscious decision that we put into practice every day in one way or another by putting aside fear and taking a risk. We do our best, but some days acting "like" trusting in a Higher Power is all we have to keep us going. Many of us have the "fake it till you make it" attitude. Along with faith, we take a leap of faith. Sometimes we fly, sometimes we fall. The growing process can have bruises. We experience rejection or we don't get what we had planned so carefully. "Sometimes the gifts we receive in recovery come in dirty wrapping," one member said playfully. But we are okay because we are learning to trust the process. Tomorrow we will start again from the beginning.
I don't have to rely on what I think I know because I'm learning to trust. Whatever happens today, I'm going to practice letting the results out of my hands and gather some faith that everything will work out.
