Q: How do I continue to take personal inventory?

Pages 84 to 85 provide instructions for how to review and adjust in the moment.

Pages 86 to 88 provide a scheme for the daily cycle.

Sometimes more is needed. The following categories overlap and feed into each other, and more than one solution may be necessary.

If things are going wrong practically

In this case, the eight questions on page 67 (concerning mistakes, selfishness, self-seeking, fear, dishonesty, being to blame, faults (= character defects), and wrongs towards others (= harms)) should be asked systematically, area by area, relationship (category) by relationship (category). Then ask God for corrective measures in the form of a sane and sound ideal (page 69).

If things are going wrong morally

This is where I am acting in a selfish or self-centred way. Little inventory is usually required here. I usually have all the information I need. What is required is recommitting to serving God not self then ask God to guide the planning of my day, week, and life more generally along the lines of service. I may need to stop certain activities or behaviours outright.

If things are going wrong mentally

Sometimes the mind misfires. I'm simply seeing things in a distorted manner but not recognising this. In this case, I find people who are sane and sensible and don't hold back. I ask them how to look at the troublesome situations in question, and adopt their view.

If things are going wrong spiritually

This will manifest as resentment and fear (in all their forms) plus other undesirable states like disillusionment, gloom, depression, and despair.

Here, the temptation is to analyse the resentment and fear from a technical point of view, like in Step Four. In my experience, the benefits of this are minimal, as the three columns of the resentment inventory and the fear inventory are really worked examples to demonstrate particular discrete points: I'm resentful because I'm playing God, and I'm frightened because playing God does not work. It's not about the detail. It's about these fundamental lessons. Once these lesson are learned, they need to be acted on, not relearned from scratch. (If it's been a long time since I've gone through the Steps and I've not been keeping these lessons alive by sponsoring many other people, then maybe revising these exercises will help, however.)

What do I do then?

Firstly, immediately apply the insights and the prayers from pages 65 to 67 to treat resentment, and the insights and prayers from page 68 to treat the fear, with absolute, unswerving commitment.

Secondly, up my Step Eleven: spend literally every spare moment on reading, listening, watching, praying, and meditating to elevate my consciousness and regain my previous state of freedom. I cannot fight the battle at the level of the battle. I need to be elevated to a higher place to take me out of the fight. From there, everything looks different. The struggles of the material world are not my concern per se. They're the venue to serve God, not the source of my happiness. This process must be persisted with until the breakthrough. Once the fever has broken, I can go back to my normal Step Eleven routine, but maybe with a bit more topping up to prevent a recurrence.

Thirdly, up my Step Twelve: ask God for guidance on how to be more useful within AA and outside it.