Well I have to admit that I am actually excited to be working on my Sixth Step – “To be entirely ready to have God remove all of my defects of character.” I’m happy to almost reach the halfway point of the Steps and experience the healing they bring. Step Six makes me feel like I’m at the starting line of a track meet. “On your mark, get set, get ready (get entirely ready), and then the gun shot and GO! “Go” is my total release to the God of my understanding to take over! “On your mark,” was my… Read more »

In this program we always get what we need if we are faithful in reading our literature and staying in touch with other members. On page 177 in Courage to Change, I read “I am not perfect. The character defects I have carried around for so many years will not vanish instantly. But with faith and hope I can work my way through them one at a time, ‘One Day at a Time.'” Reading this page is so comforting to me. I have been in this program for many years and I still have days when my character defects rear… Read more »

Just finished reading The June Forum Step Six story. It’s true that becoming entirely ready happens over time as opposed to being zapped into an Al-Anon wonder woman. Maybe we’re always becoming entirely ready. Step Six reminds me of what I heard at a meeting once: Just do the next right thing. One of my favorite pages in CAL is about turning left. (See page 116 in Paths to Recovery on Step 11.) That story about turning left is like doing the next right thing. For me, sometimes I may not be sure what the next right thing is, but… Read more »

Step Six reminds me to once again focus fully on my Higher Power. I revisit Steps Two and Three before beginning Step Six, because this Step asks me to become willing to have that Higher Power remove my character defects. I am once again turning over my life and my will to the care of that Higher Power. Grounded in the awareness of, and relationship with, this Higher Power I can then contemplate becoming willing to have him remove the things in my life that trip me up, that cause me pain, that have become habits of acting on my… Read more »

In this Step, I remember being fearful of who I would become without all these defects. I could see how harmful my defects of character were and I had only known life with them. They were how I coped with situations and people. I felt naked and afraid of the vacuum that would be left if God removed them. What would I do then? Who would I be? This was uncharted territory for me and very emotional. I leaned into all the feelings. Upon confiding my inner turmoil with a friend, it was suggested to give it a try and… Read more »

I am not sure about Step Six as it is hard to let go of all my defects of character, but I do see that I can let go of the ones that I grew up with. I always felt responsible for all mistakes where I did it or someone else in the family. I am slowly realizing that I am only responsible for what I did; I am not responsible for how my younger brothers were affected by our father’s harshness and our mother’s manic depression attitudes toward perfectionism toward us or her harsh and abusive ways of raising… Read more »

My recovery is an ongoing process through the Steps. In working Step Six I saw what my character defects were doing to me so I became “entirely ready.” The first several times through I became more and more willing and open to having God remove my character defects. I did learn that I cannot do it alone. I need the help of the God of my understanding. However, I found myself telling my Higher Power which character defect to remove and when. This is when I saw how I was getting in God’s way. Very humbling indeed. Removing my character… Read more »

Prior to Al-Anon, I had become complacent and comfortable with behaviors that were destructive for me and unpleasant for people around me. Those behaviors were giving me a false sense of security. It was a way to survive in a rather turbulent life, the results of a dysfunctional life I had as a child and was now living as an adult. The pain experienced was too much to bear, after having done Step Four and Five. In doing those Steps, I had uncovered the roots of my problems. I became willing, with some resistance at the beginning, to give myself… Read more »