Daily Reflection

OCTOBER 9
A SPIRITUAL AXIOM
It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no
matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 90
I never truly understood the Tenth Step's spiritual axiom
until I had the following experience. I was sitting in my
bedroom, reading into the wee hours, when suddenly I
heard my dogs barking in the back yard. My neighbors
frown on this kind of disturbance so, with mixed feelings of
anger and shame, as well as fear of my neighbors'
disapproval, I immediately called in my dogs. Several
weeks later the exact situation repeated itself but this time,
because I was feeling more at peace with myself, I was able
to accept the situation—dogs will bark—and I calmly
called in the dogs. Both incidents taught me that when a
person experiences nearly identical events and reacts two
different ways, then it is not the event which is of prime
importance, but the person's spiritual condition. Feelings
come from inside, not from outward circumstances. When
my spiritual condition is positive, I react positively.