WEEK 10
HOPE FOR RECOVERY COURSE
By Linda Larson Schlitz

10th Step- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. 

We have done a lot of work on the previous steps and have many of the big issues have been touched on but it cannot end there. Each day brings with it new experiences, new interactions with people, new texts, emails and social media posts that may have contributed to a less than helpful exchange. Perhaps it is even the conversation we had with ourselves that has not been positive and we know the negativity is not helping. 

This continual moral inventory is God’s way of us keeping our hearts open and our minds clear to hearing from Him and doing His will. His word makes it clear that without His direction and His spirit we can do nothing of ourselves and yet our own hearts have a tendency toward selfish ambition so staying close to Him i key (more on that in the next step) 

For now we need to ask ourselves more questions and go deeper into the quest of purifying our hearts and minds. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to get the ball rolling. 

●	Have I been grateful today? Am I seeking God's will for me and his power to carry that out? 
●	Am I serving others today based on God's direction? 
●	Am I seeing old patterns in my life that I haven't addressed today?
●	 Have I been kind and loving toward all? 
●	Am I worrying about yesterday or tomorrow? Am I obsessing with anything today? 
●	Am I taking myself to seriously and not enjoying life?
●	Have I said things or dumb things that may have hurt people?
●	Have I said negative things about others? 
●	Do I owe anyone an apology? 
●	Has it been a conflict in any of my relationships today?
●	Am I maintaining personal integrity?
●	Have I been reading the word or things that are supporting me in my recovery?
●	Am I taking care of my body and healthy ways today?
●	Have I been honest with myself and my sponsor about everything?
●	Have I been fearful today?
●	Is there anything today that I did which I wish I hadn't? 
●	Are there things that I didn't do because I procrastinated?
●	Have I lived congruently with my values today? 
●	Have I stayed clean and sober today?
●	Have I been kind to myself?
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(please let me know if you have come up with anything else I should put on this list) 

Step 10- Hope for Recovery Course								2

So now that you have a little bit more food for thought these are some things you can ask yourself at the end of the day. I know it can be somewhat overwhelming and you have to be very careful not to be hard on yourself because you're never going to be perfect. If you come across something that needs to be addressed tomorrow then get it straight with God now and let go of the shame and do what you can to make changes. Living in guilt and shame does nobody any good. Take one step at a time one moment at a time one day at a time and you will get there little by little.

Step 10 is really about self-discipline. It's about making a willful decision to look at yourself honestly and make changes accordingly. Again trying to do this without God's help will be extremely frustrating but with his help all things are possible. The world doesn't turn all at once. It goes very slowly and so is change in our lives. If we try to rush things too much they don't last as long. There is no shortcut to long-term sobriety or weight loss or a healthy body. It all takes work and self-discipline day in and day out. 

Please go through the step 10 readings in speak to me God I'm listening book as you work this step.  Hearing what God has to say about it will help you to stay grounded and not slip into a negative mindset. 

Feel free to write your thoughts here
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God bless you as you continue your journey. My prayers are with you :-) 

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL