Understanding Character Defects in AA Recovery
In the last blogs, I have talked about character defects and how difficult they are to remove. This week I want to discuss the meaning and depth of character defects and suggest more reasons they are difficult to remove.
We need heavy equipment. We need God.
Let’s consult Webster’s Dictionary for the word “character.”
Character has a number of shades of meaning, two of which are pertinent:
- a complex of mental and ethical traits,
- and/or a main or essential nature or quality.
Wow. Character is non-trivial.
Traits and essential natures are deep and important. They are not casual habits and thoughts; they are mental traits.
Changing Character Defects: Moving the Channels Through Which Thoughts Flow
They are not the thoughts; they are the channels through which thoughts flow.
Correcting thoughts is a start, but we are talking about moving the channels.
When I think about that analogy, I focus on how much work it takes to reroute a channel. I imagine an irrigation canal, a channel for water.
We have them in Southern Alberta; they are big, concrete-lined watercourses. Moving and rerouting an irrigation canal requires backhoes and earth movers.
This is what we are looking at for ourselves; removing a character trait is like moving an irrigation canal.
Heavy equipment is involved.
Seeking a Higher Power’s Help in Recovery
Small wonder that we need help from a Higher Power to remove character defects.
And the Higher Power has heavy equipment.
Books to Support Your Twelve Step Journey
If you’re looking to explore Step work, spiritual awakening, and personal transformation more deeply, check out The GEMS Series: 12-Step Shares, Notes and Thoughts. These books offer insights, reflections, and real-life recovery experience that complement the journey through the Twelve Steps.
The books in The GEMS Series: 12-Step Shares, Notes and Thoughts can be purchased through my estore or the major online book retailers. Look for GEMS, More GEMS, Still More GEMS, and More GEMS Revealed.
FAQs
What does character mean in this AA recovery reflection?
The author draws on dictionary meanings of character as mental and ethical traits and essential nature. He uses those meanings to explore why character defects feel deeper than individual thoughts or casual habits.
Why does the author compare character defects to irrigation canals?
An irrigation canal directs the flow of water. In the author’s analogy, character traits are channels through which thoughts flow. Changing a trait is like rerouting the channel rather than changing only what flows through it.
What does heavy equipment represent in this recovery reflection?
Heavy equipment represents the scale of help the author believes deep character change requires. Backhoes and earth movers become an image for the help he seeks from God, his Higher Power.
Does the author think correcting thoughts is useful in recovery?
Yes. He describes correcting thoughts as a start, while distinguishing it from changing the deeper channels through which those thoughts flow.
How does a Higher Power fit into the author’s view of character defects?
The author sees the depth of character traits as a reason to seek a Higher Power’s help. His closing image is that the Higher Power has the heavy equipment needed for that work.
Related posts
Voices of Transformation
The Missing Self-problem
