Step four of the AA program of recovery is...
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Much has been written about this step by many authors - and rightfully so. This is where we have to get brutally honest with ourselves. This is the step where we look deep inside and take stock of all that is us - the good, the bad and the ugly. We have to find out where the deep down problem areas are that cause us to drink in order to change the way we feel on the inside. We dig until it hurts, and then we keep digging. We probe, we learn about ourselves, we see the real us and we don't like it, and we cry like a baby sometimes, but we have to do this to cross over the bridge to freedom. There is no shortcut - that is if we want true freedom from alcohol.
Page 64 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is where the details of this step begin. I recommend anyone taking this step read it and take heed to what it says. Those who do not take this humbling step do not gain true freedom from drinking.
We take a look at our fears, our resentments and our bad habits. We write it all down. As the step indicates, we must be fearless. Step four is where we must get truly honest with ourselves. If we are true alcoholics our lives just might depend on it. As it says on page 58 of the Big Book, those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.
This is one area where honesty is the only policy that works. Step four is hard work, but it is part of the bridge to freedom. Happy crossing.
