Step Three: Made a decision

Here's what I know about Step 3 in Debtors Anonymous. Making decisions can be harder than they look. It might seem like a no-brainer to buy that new couch or go on that long-hoped-for vacation. But decisions like those can come with a bigger price tag than you expected. Especially if you end up incurring unsecured debt.

The decision that the founding fathers of A.A. were talking about didn't have anything to do with debting, overspending, or underearning, although in the A.A. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, there are many mentions of financial troubles. No one is immune from money problems, it seems. Debtors just get it straight on. It is all about the money. Until, of course, until it's not.

We read Step 3 from the A.A. 12 & 12 at my D.A. meeting tonight. It's short, so we easily read the entire chapter, sharing the reading between the four of us. It will take a few more weeks for some of the ideas to really sink in. Tonight, though, I understood fully how desperately I try to manage and control my life in a futile attempt to keep everything from unraveling. It's classic debtor thinking. 

Step 3 offers me a gentle alternative to white-knuckling my days. If I want to, I can let the god of my understanding handle my problems. I can decide to turn my will and my life over to the care of this higher power. I'm not saying I did that today, and I can't promise I will do it tomorrow. But it's an option. All I need is that 10-ton key of willingness.

Keep coming back!

—Hope

=============================================================

"Hope Newlyfound" is an alias for an anonymous member of the program of Debtors Anonymous with twenty years of freedom from incurring unsecured debt (which means no credit cards, credit lines, bouncing checks, paying bills late, and borrowing from friends and family.)

Information about D.A. can be found at the Debtors Anonymous world service website, and locally in the Pacific Northwest at the Oregon intergroup website and the Seattle/Puget sound intergroup website.