Step 4b Unfounded Fear

Write a prayer at the top of the page: "God please enable me to see truth"

Fear is incorrect believing, it’s often 'False Evidence Appearing Real'. It may start with truth, but I mistake the facts and blame others, giving them power over my mind.

My subconscious fears are driven by ancient survival instincts, without God, I’m trying to satisfy myself through 'Self-Reliance.' I’m afraid of losing things I already have, or of not getting things I want, and I’m afraid of being caught up in my own lies. Then once I'm fearful, "The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die" (BBp66).

1. I must understand how unfounded fears torment my ego when; “hurt or threatened ...Was it my self-esteem/pride, my security, my ambitions, my personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?” (Pg.65,¶1,L3).
2. Can I see how often mistaken slights, “set in motion trains of circumstances which brought me misfortune I didn’t deserve ...but I set that ball rolling?” (Pg.67,¶4,L29).
• Self-esteem: is the high or low self-image I’ve assigned myself, my stage character.
• Pride: is how I want others to see and respect me.
• Security: is what I absolutely need out of any situation to feel safe.
• Ambition: is what I’m expecting to get from my civility or activity.
• Personal Relations: is my belief about how my relationships should be.
• Sex Relations: is my belief about how all intimate relationships should be.
• Pocket Book: is any threat to my finances.
3. Do I believe this logic, “Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?” (Pg.68,¶1,L5).
• • (a) If I’m not good enough / I’ll be unwanted.
• • (b) If I'm unwanted / I’ll be alone.
• • (c) When I'm alone / I have emotional pain.
• • (d) When I'm in emotional pain / I will drink/drug again.
• • (e) When drinking/using / I'm at risk of dying.
• • (f) I fear death b/c dying is an unknown.
• • (g) I fear the unknown b/c I've no faith in any God.
4. All fears reduce down to Self Reliance Failing me; “Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough” (Pg.68,¶1,L6).
5. To analyze my worst fear’s, I copy them from the 4th column of my resentment inventory, (no duplicates). “We put them on paper” (Pg.68,¶1,L3).
6. Then I consider each underlying fear, “We asked ourselves why we had them?” (Pg.68,¶1,L5), then list my reason in the following column.
7. Subconscious instinctual fear flashes through my mind instantly, it's a high speed train of thought, so I unpack it in columns across a page;

( strike out the fear once it repeats, we know what it leads to)

('Perfection / Not Perfect,' always include the opposite fear, 'work / no work,' etc.)

Perceived (Fear)	Unpack each underlying fear, because all fears are based in deeper fear
a) Not Good Enough	b) Unwanted	c) Alone	d) Emotional Pain	e) Drink/Drug	f) Death
Not Trusted	Disliked	Alone	^	^	^
Not Respected	Disliked	^	^	^	^
Dispensable	Fired	Unwanted	^	^	^
Unloved	Rejected	Emotional Pain	^	^	^
No Security	Broke	Failure	Self Hate	Alone	^
Perfection	Must Repeat	Can't Repeat	Failure	^	^
Not Perfect	Unwanted	(e) Drink/use means Dying	(f) Death is an Unknown	(g) No faith in any God	Self Reliance Fails (SRF)

8. a) Can I see, “self-confidence ...didn’t fully solve the fear problem, or any other?” b) And, “When it made me cocky, it was worse?” (Pg.68,¶1,L8).
9. Am I willing to live, “on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. I trust infinite God rather than my finite self?” (Pg.68,¶2,L10).
10. Can I act as if I’m, “in the world to play the role He assigns?,” and believe, “Just to the extent that I do as I think He would have me, and humbly rely on Him, He enables me to match calamity with serenity” (Pg.68,¶2,L15)
11. Will I become fearless with my solution, “I never apologize for God. ... I ask Him to remove my fear and direct my attention to what He would have me be. At once, I commence to outgrow fear” (Pg.68-¶3).

“Selfish—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.” (Pg.62,¶1,L6).

Step 4b Unfounded Fear