“Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.”
—Step Seven of the Twelve Steps
For many of us, using crystal meth was the ultimate form of entitlement. We demanded to feel good all the time. Unable to tolerate any form of discomfort—physical, emotional, or spiritual—we rejected life on life’s terms. Instead, we chased a euphoric high. Didn’t we deserve to feel nothing but pleasure, no matter what?
Of course, entitlement doesn’t go away just because we stop using. Sometimes we hang on to our character defects because we think we’ve earned the right to indulge in them. We’ve worked so hard to get clean—so what if we still have a temper, or procrastinate from time to time, or enjoy a little gossip?
This is why many of us find Step Seven such a challenge, even after working to “act as if” in Step Six, and praying day by day for the willingness to have our character defects removed. It’s tough to “humbly ask” for anything to be removed when we feel entitled to hang on to it. To ask with humility is to ask without expectation. Our shortcomings—including our sense of entitlement—won’t go away just because we want them to be gone. Our Higher Power will determine if and when they will be removed. Our only job is to ask.
PRAYER: Higher Power, please help me let go of my sense of entitlement. I am willing to let you remove my shortcomings—in your time.