We tend to think about "practicing these principles in all our affairs" as being the province of Step 12. But the following phrase occurs in the AA Big Book, not in the section on Step 12, but in the discussion of Step 10:

Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities.

We hear the phrase "practice these principles in all our affairs" so often that it starts to lose its meaning. Of all the suggestions in the Steps, this seems to be the tallest order, and yet we pay it lip service. And why does the recommendation appear again in Step 10? How on earth are we supposed even to begin to do what these Steps recommend?

Well, one good reason that it is first mentioned in Step 10 is that it is precisely here that we start to watch ourselves -- not merely on a daily basis, but minute by minute. The Big Book does not appear to be exaggerating when it talks about this matter of self-monitoring as continuous -- the word "continue" or variations of it occur several times in the treatment of Step 10. When we watch ourselves, not merely in terms of the actions we take and the thoughts we have but the feelings that accompany them, we are in a much better position to ensure that our primary motivator is not our own will. On the other hand, when we cease to watch ourselves, our actions and thoughts can quickly become self-protective -- which is another way of saying that they are driven by our own desires, not God's.

Some form of the Buddhist awareness meditation can be useful for working Step 10, but any approach which enables us to watch ourselves continuously will be helpful. Without it, "practicing these principles in all our affairs" ceases to have any real meaning and becomes just another cliche of Program.