Bill P. - Drop the Rock: Removing Character Defects - Steps Six and Seven

Drop the Rock

Drop the Rock

Removing Character Defects

Steps Six and Seven

Second Edition

Bill P.

Todd W.

Sara S.

Hazelden Publishing

Center City, Minnesota 55012-0176

1-800-328-9000

1-651-213-4590 (Fax)

hazelden.org/bookstore

2005 by Hazelden Foundation

First Edition Published by Glen Abbey Books, Inc. 1993

First Published by Hazelden 1999

Second Edition 2005

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59285-161-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-59285-790-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

P., Bill, 1947

Drop the rock : removing character defects : steps 6 & 7 / Bill P., Todd W., Sara S.2nd ed.

p. cm.

Previous ed. published: Seattle, Wash. : Glen Abbey Books, 1993.

ISBN 1-59285-161-4 (paperback)

1. Personality disordersPatientsRehabilitation. 2. AlcoholicsRehabilitation. 3. AlcoholicsReligious life. 4. Alcoholics Anonymous. 5. Twelve-step programs. 6. Self-help techniques. 7. Spiritual life. I. W., Todd. II. S., Sara. III. Title.

RC554.P2 2005

362.29'186dc22

2004059665

09 08 07 06 05 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design by David Spohn

Interior design by Rachel Holscher

Typesetting by Stanton Publication Services, Inc.

Transcript of Drop the Rock talk by Sandy B. used with permission.

Dedicated to the good works of

Joe McC.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Joe McQ.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Charlie P.

Maysville, Arkansas

for the Big Book Comes Alive workshops

Usefulness Prayer

God, help me today to find balance

Between my character defects and the

Principles of our Program

So as, to be useful

To myself, all others, and You,

The God of my understanding.

Step Six

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Step Seven

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Contents

Preface

It has been more than twelve years since the first edition of Drop the Rock was published. During that time, Ive presented the book in seminars, retreats, and talks ranging in length from one to twelve hours. The positive response to Drop the Rock is more than I ever expected; I have especially enjoyed hearing that many sponsors give a copy of the book to their sponsees after listening to their Fifth Step.

Many Twelve Step members hold Drop the Rock groups at members homes. They meet one night a week over a specified number of weeks, usually eight. As I do in my longer seminars, the group leader preassigns the personal stories in the book to individuals. When that story is reached in the sequence of the book, the assigned member usually reads the story and comments on how he or she identifies with the characters story.

The new material in this second edition has been added as a result of comments received from individuals who have read the first edition and knowledge I have obtained throughout my recovery journey, which has now moved into its twenty-sixth year. When I first joined AA, I thought the Big Books program of action was saying a thousand things. I slowly began to understand that it is saying a few simple things a thousand times.

During the early 1980s I worked in the archives at AA Headquarters in New York and one of the most asked questions was, What is the difference between character defects and shortcomings? The answer is that there is no difference. Bill W. and the other authors of the Big Book didnt want to use the same word in both Steps. The same approach is used in this bookcharacter defects is used interchangeably with shortcomings.

Nell Wing, Bill W.s longtime secretary and the first archivist at AA, and I found the original Mary Drop the Rock story (which begins the introduction of this book) in an old intergroup newsletter. On occasion, this book gets confused with the famous 1976 AA convention talk by Sandy B. called Drop the Rock. Although Sandys dropping the rock image is only three minutes of a fifty-minute talk, it has become legendary. Thanks, Sandy, for letting us include your Drop the Rock parable in this edition.

Thank you to all those who have contributed to the production of this second edition as we remember that we will always be students in the Program, we remain teachable and open to new opportunities, and we open our minds to accept and our hearts to understand.

Bill P.

September 2004

Introduction

Seems there was this group of Twelve Step members taking a boat ride to this island called Serenity, and it was truly a happy bunch of people. As the boat pulled away from the dock, a few on board noticed Mary running down the street trying to catch up with the boat. One member said, Darn, shes missed the boat. Another said, Maybe not. Come on, Mary! Jump in the water! Swim! Swim! You can make it! You can catch up with us!

So Mary jumped into the water and started to swim for all she was worth. She swam for quite a while and then started to sink. The members on board, now all aware that Mary was struggling, shouted, Come on, Mary! Dont give up! Drop the rock! With that encouragement, Mary started swimming again, only to start sinking again shortly afterward. She was going under when she heard all those voices shouting to her, Mary, drop the rock! Let go and drop the rock.

Mary was vaguely aware of something around her neck, but she couldnt quite figure out what it was. Once more, she gathered her strength and started swimming. She was doing quite well, even gaining a little on the boat, but then she felt this heaviness pulling her under again. She saw all those people on the boat holding out their hands and hollering for her to keep swimming and shouting, Dont be an idiot, Mary! Drop the rock!

Then she understood when she was going down for the third time: This thing around her neck, this was why she kept sinking when she really wanted to catch the boat. This thing was the rock they were all shouting about: resentments, fear, dishonesty, self-pity, intolerance, and anger were just some of the things her rock was made of. God help me get rid of the rock, she prayed. Now! Get rid of it!

Mary managed to stay afloat long enough to untangle a few of the strings holding that rock around her neck, realizing as she did that her load was easing up. Then, with another burst of energy, she let go. She tore the other strings off and dropped the rock.

Once free of the rock, she was amazed how easy it was to swim, and she soon caught up with the boat. Those on board were cheering for her and applauding and telling her how great she was, and how it was so good having her with them again, and how now they could get on with the boat ride and have a nice time.

Mary felt great and was just about to indulge in a little rest and relaxation when she glanced back to shore. There, a ways back, she thought she saw something bobbing in the water so she pointed it out to some others. Sure enough, someone was trying to catch the boat, swimming for dear life but not making much headway. In fact, it looked like the person was going under.

Mary looked around and saw the concern on the faces of the other members. She was the first to lean over the rail and shout, Hey, friend! Drop the Rock!

Mike shares his experience with dropping the rock:

Before its discussion of Step Four, the Big Book says, Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions. A thorough inventory reveals those causes and conditions; the Fifth Step allows us to share them with God and another human being, and so remove the inner pain they have caused in our past lives.