Best Step 4 Analogy EVER!

So I attended my normal PASG meeting last night.  It was an amazing night.  It definitely felt good to be honest about my recent struggles with isolation, to ask for love and support and then to soak in the sharing and testimonies of others. 

Towards the end of the meeting, one of the brothers shared that he has been stuck on Step 4.  A concept I can definitely relate to as I was stuck on Step 4 for a VEEEERRY long time, myself.  He then explained that he had come up with an analogy for helping him understand the struggle with Step 4 and the importance of getting through it.

He explained that he had found Step 4 to be like entering a place that you really want to be, a great movie at your favorite theatre, a fancy restaurant etc.  Only to find that someone has passed gas and it smells AWFUL.  You have two choices.  You can run away and avoid the awful smell.  Its the perfect excuse to leave, no one wants to spend time in a room where an awful odor is lingering.  Or you can tough it out, knowing that the smell is awful but it will eventually dissipate and you will get to enjoy the rest of your experience. 

Step 4 is so much the same.   We want to be in recovery, we want to push through and progress in the steps, but it STINKS!  Its like being in that room with the awful smell.  We know we should tough it out and finish what we came for but its so hard to get past that awful odor. 

I thought that was such a perfect analogy.  Step 4 really does stink.  Its hard, there is a huge potential there for triggers and its difficult to let go of secrets that have been buried for far too long.  Its so worth it though.  I know that in my own Step 4 experiences, it was such an amazing feeling to get those burdens off my shoulders and start to move forward again.

Step 4; it really is like a fart in the room.  But the air is so much fresher on the other side!

~~~ Tim