Quiet Mind via Step 11 Prayer and Meditation

Someone said: “The only requirement for serenity is a desire to stop thinking.” In early sobriety my raving alcoholic mind was not the least fond of that cliche. It would run full speed ahead all day long and often deep into the night. It would run so fast, and confusingly, that I feared losing my new job at an antique store.

Sometimes I felt it necessary to forego lunch and talk with my newly found AA friends at a nearby recovery club. Often, as if by magic, I would be overtaken by an inexplicable calmness. Somehow, once inside, I felt safe in the mist of that AA spirit we all know so well. Who needs lunch anyway!

But back to work during the afternoon my mind would resume its attack. What to do? I had learned a spiritual tool that I still use quite often today. I would pray: “Be still and know that I am God.” Somehow, and I have never understood why, that simple statement had an immediate calming effect; albeit often short lived, it was welcome, indeed!

The Big Book tells us that we have a “Great Reality deep down within us” (God). My concept of this is that God is telling my whirling mind to quiet down. Who knows? But it worked then and still does today—great tool!

The French philosopher, René Descartes, is often quoted: “I think, therefore I am.” However, I am coming to believe that Bill Wilson’s “Great Reality deep within” (p. 55) is like a great over-self that I can utilize through prayer and meditation to bring peace and serenity into my daily life. Actually, by living the Twelve Steps of AA, I have a certain control over my mind when it goes all catawampus.

Step Eleven tells how to find calmness, before going to bed at night, by having a reflective sort of meditate before going to bed at night and asking God for forgiveness (p. 86). How to prepare our day in the morning and how to remain spiritually fit (calm) throughout the day. Read Eleventh step promises on page 88.

By Bob S., Richmond, IN