Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

I am from Texas - it is where I got clean. My first sponsor gave me an example of the 10th step by referring to it like this - imagine if every day you woke up and god gave you a perfectly white T-shirt, it fit beautifully. You were instructed to wear it daily. Before you went to sleep each night - God wants you take off the T-shirt, look at it and examine if you got anything on the T-shirt, like dirt, stains... you will get things on the shirt and the goal is to take inventory of where the dirt and stains came from. Did you intentionally wipe your mouth on the shirt - if so admit it and try not to do it again. If there is a stain and you do not know why or how it got there - no worries. Just be aware that every day God will give you a new beautiful T-shirt - try to keep it clean.

Then my sponsor went on to say... it is like the 7-11, you always know they will have fresh milk - because anything that is outdated is not sold. Life is like that 7-11 - we take stock in our daily lives and repair damage - immediately.

Today Step 10 is a way of life. I look at my thoughts, behavior and values, then work on what I need to change to prevent their recurrence. What I mean by way of life - it is something I practice and keep in the forefront of my mind.

The goal is to catch myself and stay on my side of the street - and prevent myself falling into what you are doing wrong and what you need to change to make the situation or circumstance better. I try my hardest to remember to stay in the present and when I am wrong to promptly admit it.

When I was a newcomer I wrote a detailed inventory, shared it, found out my defects of character, made out a list of whom I had harmed and made amends to them to the best of my ability. The literature is clear - and the tenth step begins with the word continued - that I take personal inventory. I try and make this daily practice. I believe step ten is an action step, and for me an important part of my daily lifestyle.

Step 10 in the Narcotics Anonymous literature states, “We need to develop self-discipline: the more effort we put into doing so, the more we’ll find that working the Tenth Step will become as natural as breathing.”

I love the NA informational pamphlet, Living the Program!  It is a simple way to do step ten on a daily basis.

Also in the NA book It Works How and Why it says, "We look at our current behavior and ask ourselves if we are living by our values.  Am I being honest today? Am I maintaining personal integrity in my relations with others?  Am I growing, or am I slipping back into old patterns?  We concentrate on the overall picture of our day." Simple and powerful!

I feel fortunate, it says when you work the tenth step you begin to stop feeling crazy and have longer moments of serenity. Today I have long moments - I hope the same for everyone on the journey to lasting recovery!