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[00:00:00.240 – 00:00:02.820] Let's go to the bottom of page, uh, 63. [00:00:02.820 – 00:00:06.120] We've made our decision. [00:00:06.120 – 00:00:09.379] We've uttered our prayer. [00:00:09.379 – 00:00:19.770] And the book says, "Next, we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, [00:00:19.770 – 00:00:23.420] which many of us had never attempted. [00:00:23.420 – 00:00:27.260] Though our decision-" Step three "… [00:00:27.260 – 00:00:37.300] was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by strenuous effort to face and to be rid of the things in

[00:00:37.300 – 00:00:39.120] ourselves which had been blocking us. [00:00:39.120 – 00:00:49.140] Our liquor was but a symptom, so we had to get down to causes and conditions." Now, we always like to stop here for just [00:00:49.140 – 00:00:54.400] a moment and look at the time element between step three and step four. [00:00:54.400 – 00:01:04.479] Uh, we always hear people asking the question: How long should you wait after you do step three until you start on [00:01:04.480 – 00:01:05.120] step four? [00:01:05.120 – 00:01:08.180] And we hear all kind of answers. [00:01:08.180 – 00:01:18.490] Sometimes they'll say, "Well, 30 days, and maybe 90 days or maybe six months." Uh, we heard a professional

[00:01:18.490 – 00:01:24.060] in the field one time counseling people to wait a minimum of two years. [00:01:24.060 – 00:01:26.390] Ooh. [00:01:26.390 – 00:01:33.940] And our question back to that person was: How many people have you killed with that statement? [00:01:33.940 – 00:01:43.560] You see, we're trying to find a way to live where we not only can be sober, but we can have a little peace of mind, serenity, and happiness. [00:01:43.560 – 00:01:54.220] And every day that we put off and procrastinate step four is a day that we're still filled with resentments, a [00:01:54.220 – 00:02:01.720] day that we're still filled with shame and fear and guilt and remorse, another day that we don't feel good. [00:02:01.720 – 00:02:08.299] And we really don't know how many days we could go without our mind beginning to think about taking a drink.

[00:02:08.299 – 00:02:15.820] And next thing you know, we've convinced ourself that it's okay to drink, and we end up drunk all over again. [00:02:15.820 – 00:02:23.020] I don't know how many days I could go under those conditions, and frankly, I'm not very interested in finding out. [00:02:23.020 – 00:02:27.200] Our book tells us when we should take step four. [00:02:27.200 – 00:02:36.480] Step three will have little permanent effect unless at once followed by the strenuous effort, which is step four. [00:02:36.480 – 00:02:39.300] And you know that does make sense, doesn't it? [00:02:39.300 – 00:02:45.040] As far back as I can remember, four has always followed immediately after three. [00:02:45.040 – 00:02:55.140] Now, knowing that and knowing we might get drunk if we don't get on with step four, why would

[00:02:55.140 – 00:02:57.220] we still tend to procrastinate? [00:02:57.220 – 00:02:58.549] Fear. [00:02:58.549 – 00:03:00.380] And I think two or three reasons behind it. [00:03:00.380 – 00:03:01.560] Number one is fear. [00:03:01.560 – 00:03:09.720] Some of we older members tend to play king off of the mountain with this step, and we tell the newcomer how tough it is. [00:03:09.720 – 00:03:10.510] Oh, no. [00:03:10.510 – 00:03:13.900] "By God, just wait till you get to step three, four.

[00:03:13.900 – 00:03:17.640] Blah, blah, blah, blah." We just literally scare them to death. [00:03:17.640 – 00:03:27.720] Let us be the first to say today that if we take step four according to The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, there is nothing whatsoever to be afraid [00:03:27.720 – 00:03:31.480] of, and I think we're all gonna see that in just a little bit. [00:03:31.480 – 00:03:38.040] Okay, knowing there's nothing to be afraid of, then why would we still tend to procrastinate? [00:03:38.040 – 00:03:43.580] And I think probably one of the greatest reasons is simply confusion. [00:03:43.580 – 00:03:49.480] For years, we could not see how to do step four according to the Big Book. [00:03:49.480 – 00:03:59.720] And the reason we couldn't see it is the instructions are there, but they are so simple that we alcoholics, with our keen intellectual alcoholic minds-

[00:03:59.720 – 00:04:00.600] … [00:04:00.600 – 00:04:04.700] looking for something more complicated, overlooked the simplicity of step four. [00:04:04.700 – 00:04:14.240] So in our desperation, we read over in step five something about sharing all your life story. [00:04:14.240 – 00:04:24.300] And we said, "Oh, that's what they wanted us to do in step four, is write our life story, so we could share it in step five." That's what I did [00:04:24.300 – 00:04:24.960] in the beginning. [00:04:24.960 – 00:04:29.980] Now, my life story might not have been important to others, but it must have been to me. [00:04:29.980 – 00:04:31.659] There was 92 pages in it.

[00:04:31.659 – 00:04:37.180] I took it to another poor, suffering human being. [00:04:37.180 – 00:04:41.340] And I asked them to read it, and they did. [00:04:41.340 – 00:04:50.880] And he said, "Not very pretty, is it?" And I said, "No, it isn't." He said, "You'll never have to be that way again." He threw it in the wastepaper basket. [00:04:50.880 – 00:04:56.000] And I learned nothing from my life story to contribute to my alcoholism. [00:04:56.000 – 00:05:02.160] Certainly nothing new, 'cause everything I wrote down, I already knew it, so nothing new came out of it. [00:05:02.160 – 00:05:09.300] And today, I realize that 95% of my life story really doesn't have anything to do with my alcoholism anyhow. [00:05:09.300 – 00:05:15.120] The fact that I was born in 1929, I don't think that's got a thing to do with my alcoholism.

[00:05:15.120 – 00:05:20.100] It may have had something to do with somebody else's alcoholism, but not mine. [00:05:20.100 – 00:05:29.300] The fact that I graduated from high school at age 17, went immediately into the service, I don't think that's got a thing to do with my alcoholism. [00:05:29.300 – 00:05:34.320] The fact that I was married at age 21, I don't think that's got anything to do with it. [00:05:34.320 – 00:05:34.770] Mm-hmm. [00:05:34.770 – 00:05:41.719] But I tell you what it did do, the 95% that had nothing to do with it very effectively covered up the 5% that did. [00:05:41.719 – 00:05:42.740] Mm-hmm. [00:05:42.740 – 00:05:46.240] And I learned nothing from my life story to contribute to my alcoholism.

[00:05:46.240 – 00:05:53.020] So in our desperation again, somebody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, wrote a four-step inventory guide. [00:05:53.020 – 00:05:58.400] We took the Minneapolis guide, combined it with the Big Book, and got more confused yet. [00:05:58.400 – 00:06:02.660] Somebody in Dallas, Texas, wrote a four-step inventory guide. [00:06:02.660 – 00:06:09.416] We took the Dallas guide, combined it with a Minneapolis guide, combined it with a big book, and got more confused yet. [00:06:09.416 – 00:06:12.735] Have no idea how many are floating around today. [00:06:12.735 – 00:06:16.315] We saw one that had twenty pages in it. [00:06:16.315 – 00:06:21.536] I'll guarantee if you wasn't crazy as hell when you took it, you would be when you were through with it.

[00:06:21.536 – 00:06:22.536] It was one of those. [00:06:22.536 – 00:06:26.916] All the time, the instructions have been here. [00:06:26.916 – 00:06:31.556] We just never could see them before because we didn't understand how Bill writes. [00:06:31.556 – 00:06:41.356] And I think today, if we can just kind of sit back and relax, look at a few simple ideas, we're going to see how easy this thing really is. [00:06:41.356 – 00:06:44.176] There's two things we got to remember. [00:06:44.176 – 00:06:54.655] First, he loved to use comparisons, talking about one thing that we already know [00:06:54.716 – 00:06:55.876] to teach us something new.

[00:06:55.876 – 00:07:05.256] Also, he did not like to repeat himself using the same words over and over. [00:07:05.256 – 00:07:11.556] So he would tell us something, then turn around, tell it again, but use different words the second time. [00:07:11.556 – 00:07:17.616] And bearing those two thoughts in mind, I think we can see how simple this thing really is. [00:07:17.616 – 00:07:23.956] He starts out by saying, "Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory." This was step four. [00:07:23.956 – 00:07:27.116] Immediately, he jumps into business. [00:07:27.116 – 00:07:35.356] He says, "A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke." And I think his first comparison is this. [00:07:35.356 – 00:07:45.476] You know, if you had a business, and I don't care what it is, selling ladies' purses, men's watches, bicycles, or whatever, if you did an inventory once

[00:07:45.476 – 00:07:50.496] in a while, and by the way, inventory is defined as a written list of items. [00:07:50.496 – 00:08:00.056] If you didn't go in there and make a list of the things that are in there, you wouldn't know what's been stolen that you didn't get paid for. [00:08:00.056 – 00:08:08.556] If you did an inventory once in a while, you wouldn't know what's been sold, and you need to reorder to put new stock in its place. [00:08:08.556 – 00:08:13.436] If you did an inventory once in a while, you wouldn't know what's become damaged. [00:08:13.436 – 00:08:14.696] Nobody wants to buy it. [00:08:14.696 – 00:08:20.096] It's sitting there taking up valuable floor space day after day after day. [00:08:20.096 – 00:08:23.896] You're probably paying interest on borrowed money to put it in there in the first place.

[00:08:23.896 – 00:08:29.296] If you did an inventory once in a while, you wouldn't know what's become out of style. [00:08:29.296 – 00:08:34.836] You need to put it on sale so you can get it out of the store to put something new in its place. [00:08:34.836 – 00:08:41.836] If you had a business and you did an inventory once in a while, you probably would go broke, and I think we can all see that. [00:08:41.836 – 00:08:46.156] Okay, in our personal lives, we have a business, too. [00:08:46.156 – 00:08:56.156] It's the greatest business in the world for us, and it's the business of finding a way to live where we can have a little peace of mind, serenity, and happiness, [00:08:56.156 – 00:08:58.856] so we don't have to go back to drinking. [00:08:58.856 – 00:09:09.476] And if we don't inventory in our personal business, chances are we're not going to find what's damaged and unsaleable in our heads that's

[00:09:09.476 – 00:09:11.216] going to cause us to go broke, too. [00:09:11.216 – 00:09:14.816] And going broke for us is simply going back to drinking. [00:09:14.816 – 00:09:23.976] So whether we're dealing with a personal business or a business business, in either case, we would probably go broke without the inventory. [00:09:23.976 – 00:09:28.896] Now then, he's going to tell us how to take a business inventory. [00:09:28.896 – 00:09:35.436] He says, "Taking a commercial…" Now, dad burn him, he could have said business again, couldn't he? [00:09:35.436 – 00:09:39.196] But he'll use the word commercial, which means the same thing. [00:09:39.196 – 00:09:41.316] Taking a commercial inventory.

[00:09:41.316 – 00:09:51.676] Now, Joe, up here on the screen, and you also have it in your handout material, we're going to have a little picture up here that's going to be called Inventory Comparison. [00:09:51.676 – 00:09:54.136] I think it's step five in your handout sheet. [00:09:54.136 – 00:09:58.576] On one side says business, the other one says personal. [00:09:58.576 – 00:10:06.896] And we're going to take a few key words out of the, out of the, uh, big book and put it under business. [00:10:06.896 – 00:10:17.516] He said, "Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding," and we're putting fact-finding under business, "and a fact-facing [00:10:17.516 – 00:10:20.336] process." We're putting fact-facing under business. [00:10:20.336 – 00:10:30.396] "It is an effort to discover the truth," and we're putting truth under business, "about the stock in trade," and we're putting stock in

[00:10:30.396 – 00:10:31.596] trade under business. [00:10:31.596 – 00:10:39.056] The stock in trade is what's in there to sell, the ladies' purses, the men's watches, the bicycles, or whatever. [00:10:39.056 – 00:10:49.336] One object is to disclose damaged or unsaleable goods, and we're putting under object, under business, [00:10:49.336 – 00:10:59.336] disclose damaged or unsaleable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret, and we're putting promptly and without regret [00:10:59.336 – 00:11:00.196] under business. [00:11:00.196 – 00:11:07.036] In other words, we're going to go in there, and we're going to try to find the facts. [00:11:07.036 – 00:11:10.916] When we find them, we're going to face the facts.

[00:11:10.916 – 00:11:16.956] We're looking for the truth about the stock in trade. [00:11:16.956 – 00:11:21.836] We're trying to find the damaged and unsaleable goods. [00:11:21.836 – 00:11:25.896] The good items will not cause us to go broke. [00:11:25.896 – 00:11:30.056] Oh, they resell every day, and we're making money off of them. [00:11:30.056 – 00:11:38.296] The damaged and unsaleable goods, they're the ones that's blocking the floor space and the shelf space and costing us money. [00:11:38.296 – 00:11:44.856] When we finally find them, we're going to try to get rid of them promptly and without regret. [00:11:44.856 – 00:11:49.536] We can't put anything new in there in their place until they're gone.

[00:11:49.536 – 00:11:54.696] We're trying to find the stock in trade that's damaged and get it out of there. [00:11:54.696 – 00:12:02.136] If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values. [00:12:02.136 – 00:12:04.016] He's got to be honest. [00:12:04.016 – 00:12:06.755] Once in a while, he'll try to fool himself. [00:12:06.755 – 00:12:16.576] He'll say, "Well, the reason these ladies aren't buying these purses is they just don't understand what's good for them." You know, he made the decision to buy them. [00:12:16.576 – 00:12:24.056] He hates to admit that he made a mistake, and he may keep them in there longer than he should, and if he does, it's gonna cost him money every day. [00:12:24.056 – 00:12:30.216] Is there anybody in here would have any problem with what he's told us about the business inventory?

[00:12:30.216 – 00:12:33.195] That we're gonna try to find the facts. [00:12:33.195 – 00:12:36.096] When we find them, we're gonna face them. [00:12:36.096 – 00:12:41.176] We're looking for the truth about the stock in trade. [00:12:41.176 – 00:12:44.796] We're looking for the damaged and unsalable goods. [00:12:44.796 – 00:12:50.576] When we get rid of them, we're gonna– When we find them, we're gonna get rid of them promptly and without regret. [00:12:50.576 – 00:12:54.316] Always looking for the stock in trade that's damaged. [00:12:54.316 – 00:12:56.336] Anybody got any problems there?

[00:12:56.336 – 00:12:59.076] Okay, now watch it. [00:12:59.076 – 00:13:09.496] He used a series of words to tell us how to take our personal inventory, which means basically the same thing. [00:13:09.496 – 00:13:13.236] He said we did exactly the same thing with our lives. [00:13:13.236 – 00:13:14.756] We took stock honestly. [00:13:14.756 – 00:13:21.656] So we go to step four, and step four says, now we're under personal on the right-hand side of the sheet. [00:13:21.656 – 00:13:29.396] Step four said we made a searching, and we're putting searching straight across from fact-finding. [00:13:29.396 – 00:13:30.676] They mean the same thing.

[00:13:30.676 – 00:13:33.816] To find the facts, to search out the facts. [00:13:33.816 – 00:13:42.436] We made a searching fearless, and we're putting fearless straight across from fact-facing. [00:13:42.436 – 00:13:43.616] They mean the same thing. [00:13:43.616 – 00:13:47.156] To face the facts, to fearlessly look at them. [00:13:47.156 – 00:13:53.876] We made a searching fearless moral, and there's where we got in trouble. [00:13:53.876 – 00:14:04.256] We said, "Oh, damn." There's that list of dirty, filthy, nasty items, and we don't wanna look at them, and we sure as hell don't wanna show them to anybody else. [00:14:04.256 – 00:14:12.256] Now, I'm not sure what old Bill Wilson knew, but I know one thing, this guy understood the English language.

[00:14:12.256 – 00:14:22.496] And I really believe that if he'd wanted you and I to make a list of dirty, filthy, nasty items, he would have said we made a searching and fearless amoral or immoral [00:14:22.496 – 00:14:24.416] inventory. [00:14:24.416 – 00:14:25.216] He didn't say that. [00:14:25.216 – 00:14:26.036] He said moral. [00:14:26.036 – 00:14:31.516] Bugged the hell out of us till eventually we went back to the dictionary. [00:14:31.516 – 00:14:35.216] Do you know what the word moral is defined as? [00:14:35.216 – 00:14:36.636] Truth.

[00:14:36.636 – 00:14:45.516] Things as they really are, the right and wrong of any given situation, the truth about things. [00:14:45.516 – 00:14:48.896] So truth and moral mean exactly the same thing. [00:14:48.896 – 00:14:53.116] We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of what? [00:14:53.116 – 00:14:55.936] Of ourselves. [00:14:55.936 – 00:15:01.456] We're the only stock in trade that we have in this business of staying sober. [00:15:01.456 – 00:15:07.636] Nobody else can make us sober, and nobody else can make us drink. [00:15:07.636 – 00:15:12.136] Oh, I'll agree, they can make us thirsty as hell once in a while.

[00:15:12.136 – 00:15:15.116] But they can't make us drink. [00:15:15.116 – 00:15:18.116] We decide whether we drink or not. [00:15:18.116 – 00:15:22.196] Now, what part of us decides whether we drink or not? [00:15:22.196 – 00:15:24.756] Is it our body or is it our mind? [00:15:24.756 – 00:15:26.006] Our mind. [00:15:26.006 – 00:15:28.936] The real problem of the alcoholic centers in the mind. [00:15:28.936 – 00:15:39.296] So we're gonna look inside ourselves, in our minds, and we're gonna find those flawed thinking processes,

[00:15:39.296 – 00:15:45.436] which is the damaged and unsalable goods that block us off from God. [00:15:45.436 – 00:15:55.846] Now, we've made a decision to turn our will over to God, and as long as our mind is filled with damaged and unsalable goods, then [00:15:55.846 – 00:15:57.556] God can't direct our thinking. [00:15:57.556 – 00:16:06.136] We're gonna have to find them, and after we once find them, then we're gonna get rid of them promptly and without regret. [00:16:06.136 – 00:16:15.676] And when those flawed thinking processes leave our minds, then our mind is opened up for God's thinking to enter. [00:16:15.676 – 00:16:19.896] But it's only after they're gone that God can enter. [00:16:19.896 – 00:16:27.935] Now, there are three common manifestations of a life run on self-will, and we've already talked about them.

[00:16:27.935 – 00:16:38.096] The flawed thinking processes in our mind that blocks God out are resentments, fear, guilt, and remorse associated [00:16:38.096 – 00:16:39.676] with the harms done to other people. [00:16:39.676 – 00:16:47.276] And as long as our mind is occupied with those thoughts, then God's thoughts can't come in. [00:16:47.276 – 00:16:49.296] It's just that simple. [00:16:49.296 – 00:16:53.316] Now, I like to look at my head up here as a little bitty store. [00:16:53.316 – 00:16:54.016] Not much. [00:16:54.016 – 00:16:56.336] A little bitty quick trip or seven-eleven.

[00:16:56.336 – 00:16:57.676] Not a hell of a lot in it. [00:16:57.676 – 00:16:58.536] Never has been. [00:16:58.536 – 00:17:06.636] Over here in this part of my store, I've got some display cases, and they are filled with resentments. [00:17:06.636 – 00:17:08.076] Damn him. [00:17:08.076 – 00:17:10.056] Damn her. [00:17:10.056 – 00:17:11.346] By God, I'll show them. [00:17:11.346 – 00:17:13.726] Blahdy, blahdy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:17:13.726 – 00:17:16.936] Those display cases are already full. [00:17:16.936 – 00:17:23.816] God simply cannot get in there because He is blocked out by the damaged and unsalable goods called resentments. [00:17:23.816 – 00:17:29.416] Over here in this part of my store, I've got a little file cabinet, and it's filled with fear. [00:17:29.416 – 00:17:34.556] Oh, my God, what's she gonna do when she finds out about this one? [00:17:34.556 – 00:17:39.816] Oh, my God, what's the banker gonna say when that check hits there this time? [00:17:39.816 – 00:17:42.756] He's already told me he's gonna file on me next time. [00:17:42.756 – 00:17:45.636] Oh, my God, is that my car sitting out in the front?

[00:17:45.636 – 00:17:46.736] Front end torn up. [00:17:46.736 – 00:17:47.456] Don't know how. [00:17:47.456 – 00:17:48.636] Oh, my God. [00:17:48.636 – 00:17:50.296] And on and on and on. [00:17:50.296 – 00:17:51.796] God can't get in there. [00:17:51.796 – 00:17:55.456] He's very effectively blocked out by those fears. [00:17:55.456 – 00:18:00.856] Back here in the back of my store, I've got a little file room, and it's full of guilt and remorse.

[00:18:00.856 – 00:18:03.356] God dwells in each of us. [00:18:03.356 – 00:18:05.216] We know the difference between right and wrong. [00:18:05.216 – 00:18:07.496] We do these things that hurt other people. [00:18:07.496 – 00:18:12.576] We're scared to death what they're gonna do when they find out, and the guilt and remorse begins to eat us up. [00:18:12.576 – 00:18:14.056] God can't get in that storeroom. [00:18:14.056 – 00:18:15.856] He's already blocked out of there. [00:18:15.856 – 00:18:16.806] We have an emergency phone.

[00:18:16.806 – 00:18:19.606] Have an emergency phone call for whom? [00:18:19.606 – 00:18:21.126] Pam or Paul Madison. [00:18:21.126 – 00:18:21.906] Who? [00:18:21.906 – 00:18:24.926] Pam or Paul Madison. [00:18:24.926 – 00:18:25.295] Pam or Paul Madison. [00:18:25.295 – 00:18:26.346] Pam or Paul Madison. [00:18:26.346 – 00:18:27.146] Okay.

[00:18:27.146 – 00:18:29.206] Like the tape cable back at the back. [00:18:29.206 – 00:18:31.026] I hope everything's all right. [00:18:31.026 – 00:18:31.346] Yeah. [00:18:31.346 – 00:18:41.566] Now, if I want God to direct my thinking, then I'm gonna have to do something about the removal of these resentments and these fears [00:18:41.566 – 00:18:43.066] and this guilt and remorse. [00:18:43.066 – 00:18:53.266] And if I can remove them, then God's thinking can enter into my mind and direct those portions of my mind where he was effectively [00:18:53.266 – 00:18:53.946] blocked out.

[00:18:53.946 – 00:19:01.645] Now, my book is getting ready to show me just exactly how to look at these things truthfully. [00:19:01.645 – 00:19:05.786] It's getting ready to show me how to remove them. [00:19:05.786 – 00:19:12.326] Then the greatest thing it's gonna show me is how to keep them from coming back in the future. [00:19:12.326 – 00:19:17.986] And if I'll do my part, then God can direct my thinking. [00:19:17.986 – 00:19:21.126] But until I've done my part, God can't. [00:19:21.126 – 00:19:22.346] It's just that simple. [00:19:22.346 – 00:19:26.025] He says, "We did exactly the same thing with our lives.

[00:19:26.025 – 00:19:29.726] We took stock honestly, truthfully, morally. [00:19:29.726 – 00:19:34.366] First, we searched out the flaws in our makeup which caused our failure. [00:19:34.366 – 00:19:44.706] Being convinced that self manifested in various ways and what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations." Resentment [00:19:44.706 – 00:19:46.166] is the number one offender.