Monday, February 21, 2022

4th Step Resentment list third column breakdown. Categories of the human instincts / drives.

3rd column of the fourth step resentment list breakdown.

Security
    a) material/financial security, survival instinct.
    b) emotional security -  feeling good about oneself.
Social 

a) The desire to have friends and keep them. Personal relationships. 

b) Desire to hold a position within a social group Example: A position at work. A position in an AA group. A position on a sports team. Leader or position within a political organization. Much of this instinct can be about the social prestige attached to having the position. I can now tell my friends I'm the leader or VP or manager etc..

c) Desire for social prestige/acceptance/self esteem (in a group or to individuals)

Sex
   a) socially acceptable sex relations.
   b) hidden sex relations (affairs, sex that you would want to hide from others)
 

Identify which one of the instincts are threatened by the person, institution or principle which have caused resentment. Resentments always stem from blocking the satisfaction of these instincts in some way, shape or form. Almost always a resentment toward a person or institution originates in them saying or not saying something that is blocking the instinct from being satisfied in the manner we want or them doing or not doing something we feel is blocking the instinct from being satisfied in the way we want. 

With principles it is that the rule, law, basic truth or standard is again blocking instincts or ambition to satisfy them. 

It is helpful to write down or make a mental note ( to be talked about in the 5th step ) of how theses instincts / desires have been threatened. This can be very helpful in determining exactly what character defects may be responsible for the resentment to be written in the inventory fourth column.

Also note - AMBITIONS TO SATISFY ANY OF THE ABOVE.

It could be that the resentment held against a person is threatening ambition to satisfy one of the instincts in the future. For example someone has said something bad about me to a person I am pursuing for a sexual or romantic relationship. Now I'm angry and resentful at this person for bad mouthing me. Why? Because my ambition to satisfy my social instinct (desire to have the relation) and my ambition to have sex has been threatened. How has it been threatened? It has to do with my thinking. I think that the person I am pursuing now thinks less of me and won't want to know me or go out with me because of what the person with whom I now hold a resentment said to them. 

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