Peeling Layers

Three years ago I worked Step Seven on my people-pleasing. God removed the most obvious layer - I stopped saying yes to everything. I learned to set boundaries. I thought I was done. Then last month a deeper layer appeared. I realized I've been people-pleasing in recovery itself - shaping my shares to get approval, avoiding honesty that might make others uncomfortable.

Once again as we peel away the layers of an onion we discover new layers which shows our spiritual growth. New layers show growth not failure. I couldn't see the subtle people-pleasing in my recovery three years ago because I was still working on obvious people-pleasing in daily life. Each layer God removes reveals a deeper layer I couldn't see before. The onion gets smaller but there are always more layers.

My sponsor - twenty-two years in program - said she's still discovering new layers of character defects she thought God had removed years ago. But she doesn't see this as discouraging. It proves the program works. She's growing spiritually enough to see subtleties she couldn't see before. Finding a new layer means I'm ready to work at a deeper level. God reveals what I'm ready for and removes what I can release. Then when I'm ready God shows me the next layer down.

When I discover a new layer of a defect I thought was removed, instead of discouragement I can say: This proves I'm growing. I couldn't see this layer before. Now I can. I can pray: God, thank You for revealing this deeper layer. Please remove it as I'm ready. The spiral goes down not in circles.