STEP 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
How It Works
A business
which takes no regular inventory
usually goes broke. Taking
commercial inventory is a
fact-finding and a fact-facing
process. It is an effort to
discover the truth about the
stock-in-trade. One object is to
disclose damaged or unsalable
goods, to get rid of them
promptly and without regret. If
the owner of the business is to
be successful, he cannot fool
himself about values.
We did exactly the same thing with
our lives. We took stock honestly. First, we searched
out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure.
Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways,
was what had defeated us, we considered its common
manifestations.
-A.A. Big Book p.64
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We want to find
out exactly how, when and where our natural desires have
warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness
this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering
what our emotional deformities are, we can move towards
their correction. Without a willing and persistent
effort to do this, there can be little sobriety or
contentment for us. Without a searching and fearless
moral inventory, most of us have found that the faith
which really works in daily living is out of reach.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions, p. 43
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In Step Four we call it a "moral"
inventory because we compile a list of traits and
behaviors that have transgressed our highest, or moral,
values. We also inventory our "good" traits and the
behaviors that represent them. In our life's moral
inventory the defects or dysfunctional behaviors might
include some that once worked; some dysfunctional
behaviors may have saved our lives as children, but they
are now out-of-date, self-defeating, and cause us a
great deal of trouble when we use them as adults.
- A Hunger for Healing, p. 61
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The purpose of a searching and
fearless moral inventory is to sort through the
confusion and the contradiction of our lives so that we
can find out who we really are. We are starting a new
way of life and need to be rid of the burdens and traps
which have controlled us and prevented our growth.
As we approach this step, most of
us are afraid that there is a monster inside us that, if
released, will destroy us. This fear can cause us to put
off our inventory or may even prevent us from taking
this crucial step at all. We have found that fear is
lack of faith, and we have found a loving, personal God
to whom we can turn. We no longer need to be afraid.
... Step Four will help us toward
our recovery more than we imagine. Most of us find that
we were neither as terrible, nor as wonderful, as we
supposed. We are surprised to find that we have good
points in our inventory. Anyone who has some time in the
Program and has worked this step will tell you that the
Fourth Step was a turning point in their life. Some of
us make the mistake of approaching the Fourth Step as if
it were a confession of how horrible we are-what a bad
person we have been. In this new way of life, a binge of
emotional sorrow can be dangerous. This is not the
purpose of the Fourth Step. We are trying to free
ourselves of living in old, useless patterns. We take
the Fourth Step to gain the necessary strength and
insight which enables us to grow. We may approach the
Fourth Step in a number of ways.
It is advisable that before we
start, we go over the first three steps with a sponsor.
- Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text,
Chapter 4/Step 4
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A personal inventory is crucial to
understanding the new direction of our spiritual growth.
What aspects of our character do we need to retain and
emphasize, and what should be modified or discarded? Six
components that might go into such an inventory are
described in the following paragraphs.
First, we may need to "tell our
stories." This can be accomplished by journaling, that
is, by writing out our stories, and by sharing them with
others in recovery meetings or private dialogue...
A second component in our
inventory is discovering the roots of our addictions and
codependency's. In most cases, this means we have to
examine our childhoods. What needs were not met there?
What negative experiences or messages about ourselves
did we absorb in the dysfunctional family of origin? ...
Third, we must confront and assess
the full extent of our dependencies. Doing so, we will
learn more about the severity of our primary addictions,
and we may uncover other peripheral addictions we had
not previously recognized. We should inventory and
identify all of these codependent symptoms and
addictions, which have manifested themselves in our
adolescent and adult lives....
Fourth, we need to look back at
our relationship history with the people who have been
significant in our lives - parents, teachers, mentors,
friends, romantic interests. We need to inventory all
the ways we have hurt them and hurt ourselves by
practicing our adult addictions and codependency's...
Fifth, we must address our guilt
feelings. We realize that most addictions are
shame-based and shame-propelled. To move beyond this
shame-base, we need to distinguish between two major
forms of guilt: 1) False shame, or carried shame... 2)
Authentic guilt...
Sixth, we must "look for the
good". An important counterbalancing dimension is that a
Step 4 inventory should include the positive, as well as
the negative, things about us...
- Serenity, A Companion for Twelve
Step Recovery, p. 38-42
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