One cold morning in January, I was getting ready for work. I had gone outside to warm up my car. Upon my arrival back into the apartment, a former roommate who had accused me of being with his girlfriend, whom I never met, greeted me. I told him that I never met the woman. He insisted that I did. The conversation was going nowhere fast, so I decided to leave for work. I got in my car, shut the door, and heard a bullet ricochet off of the pavement that was meant for me.
This was an opportunity for me to apply the principals of the program. Having a good understanding of steps 1, 2, and 3 helped a lot. When it came to step 4, I didn’t do as well as my will was filled with rage from within. I realized this fact after talking with my sponsor. He said that step 4 says, “We realized that the people who wronged us are spiritually sick”, though we did not like their symptoms or the way they disturbed us. They too like us were sick. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would grant a sick friend. Because of selfishness and ill thinking I was unable to remember that we must avoid retaliation and arguments. I was also at fault. I know without sponsorship and a higher power the outcome would have been much worse.