Let’s not get all caught up in the schematics of this step, shall we? We’ve all heard the analogy: three frogs on a log. Two make a decision to jump. How many frogs are left on the log? Three – because a decision doesn’t equal an action. A clever little mind-twist designed to prove a point.
So when and how am I supposed to jump off the log, exactly?
Step 3: made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.
Where’s the call to action? Shouldn’t I be turning in my badge and gun at this point? Maybe handing over my keys? Or perhaps I need to be leaping into Jesus’ waiting arms as we walk along the beach. Something concrete, solid, that I can point to as confirmation. I feel like something needs to be notarized.
I mean, this has always been the step I agreed with the most, in theory. It’s definitely the one that has the ability to take away the most pain. Let God do it – sounds like a wise move.
Today, I understand that it’s not a one-and-done-type-deal, that it demands a daily renewing at the minimum, a first-thing-in-the-morning letting go and turning over. There may even be the need to sometimes let it run continuously, like a dehumidifier. Every couple of conscious seconds it may be required to mentally pull the car over and stretch my spiritual legs. Just get out and walk for a bit. Do I even know which way I was going? Was there a specific destination I had in mind, or was I once again all caught up in the gas stomping and brake slamming?
Well, that’s the problem in a nutshell. I shouldn’t have been driving in the first place.
12 the hard way 
“Today, I understand that it’s not a one-and-done-type-deal, that it demands a daily renewing at the minimum, a first-thing-in-the-morning letting go and turning over.”
I love the acceptance part in the above statement – I am just now out of desperation listening to my sponsor about continuous connecting to a higher power after years of being a dry drunk. After not drinking and going to meetings , but still living in a cesspool of fear, anxiety and depression, I realized I could live on using my way anymore.
For me , i need to do it continuously throughout the day.
What helps me is that the people who I admire the most in Meetings, every single one does the above in some shape or manner
Just shy of a year in, I’m hardly a sobriety ninja, so of course this is just my perspective. For me step 3 was the simple act of asking for help.
Enjoyed this post and will keep reading with interest!