Tenth Step Promises

"And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone, even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition. " - AA Big Book, from Into Action, pgs. 84 & 85. (pdf)

Willingness, Honesty and Open Mindedness

This morning, I was contemplating the essentials of recovery: Honesty, Open Mindedness and Willingness (HOW, for mnemonic purposes).

"Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.

We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable." - AA Big Book, from Spiritual Experience

It occurred to me that each of the steps can be broken down according to these principles. For example:

Step One:

Honesty: When I honestly look at my life, am I powerless over _______? (Fill in the blank with alcohol, et al.) When I honestly look at my ability to manage life, is it manageable?

Open Mindedness: Can I be open-minded about this concept of being powerless over _______? Can I be open-minded about this concept of the unmanageability of my life?

Willingness: Am I willing to admit that I'm powerless over _______? Am I willing to admit that my life has become unmanageable?

You will most likely find other (better?) questions to fill out each of the steps. This is only the beginning of this line of thought for me. I'd love to hear any insights you may have.