Sometimes we just don't feel so good. This may not necessarily be a physical feeling -- occasionally we get the spiritual "blah's." Our spiritual practices start to seem pointless. There seems to be so far to go, and so little progress made. And whatever progress we have made seems to be towards a state of insecurity and not-knowing, rather than the spiritual omniscience we believed would accompany our firm commitment to spiritual growth.

At times like this, it becomes easier to understand how intimidating a life based on Steps 10, 11 and 12 can be to someone who has been a member of Program for years but who has focused mainly on the first nine Steps. No wonder that so many people listen to what we have to say about about our attempts to lead a truly spiritual existence and then stay away from us. We may feel fearful about our spiritual path on these "off-days," but that fear is nothing compared to the fear that members of Program can feel when they first start to realize that recovery based only on the first nine Steps can offer no lasting contentment.

So it can help, on those days when we're feeling spritually off the beam and perhaps just a little sorry for ourselves, to remember that at least we have taken the most important action. We've stopped trying to live our lives as some sort of "partnership" between ourselves and God as we understand God, a partnership where God gets some of what God wants and I (of course) get some of what I want. Sure, there are going to be days when it's tough. But if we keep up our spiritual practice even on those days when we don't feel like it, we will find as always that "this too shall pass."