| How I did my fourth step inventory |
| It worked for me, a 35 year heroin addict and alcoholic |
| Who/What | Why/What | I feel | I React/Effects My | I Fear A Threat To My |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom/Mary - All those who have wronged me | They talk behind my back. Tell lies. | Angry, resentful, unloved, lonely, ashamed | I tell others bad things about them. I get violent with them or others because I'm angry... | Ego, self esteem, social status.... I will not be as well liked if people hear bad things about me. |
| Banks/Bankers. Big corporations and subservient elected officials | Greedy rich people stealing the nations wealth | Angry, insecure, hopeless, powerless, stuck | How will I survive if working isn't working out. Can't make ends meet. I rob banks. I steal because everyone else does. I became embittered and withdraw from society... I'm a hater | Threat to security. Others have control over me via society: Laws, Norms, Traditions, money ... |
| The human race | It's history of violence and cruelty | Like there's no hope, sad, angry, lonely & insecure | Ability to stay positive, make plans, have a family | Security / I'm outnumbered. Our fate is sealed. No escape, trapped... |
After you finish, for the first time, you'll have some very useful data concerning yourself and your behavior. This is really where it all gets interesting. You may notice that this inventory has nothing to do with addiction, specifically. It's not useful - just for addicts and alcoholics. After I'd been doing it a while I thought, "Wow, everybody could benefit from this".
You'll pretty much be able to figure all this out on your own but let me point out what I thought was significant:
- 1) I didn't have a lot of individuals on my list. There were people I despised, loathed, hated etc. but by the time I got here I wasn't really madd at anyone in particular as much as I'd had it with the human race as a whole
- 2) All inventories will be unique to the individual. The examples I give are only to fill the spaces with some general purpose sample
- 3) End the end the columns on the left begin to lose there importance. As we start to see why - People, Institutions etc. - can make us so crazy and put in the time and effort to change - we can end all the madness "We" were generating
- 4) Two things we can watch for as soon as we write this out: Why am I feeling this way; What am I afraid of...This process just goes on and on. I still do it today.
- 5) The power is in the process. To do this on going 4th step effectively we must practice the three universal principles: Honesty, Open mindedness and Willingness. While we are in this "Practicing Positive Principles" mode little can defeat us. If we stop, we're like sitting ducks for out own negative thought patterns.
