The 5th Step: Facing Our Wrongs? Or Feeling Sorry for Ourselves?

Grandparents like to give advice, probably because they want us to make good choices. They have lived longer than us and want to spare us the pain of making mistakes. Any grandparent worth their salt has said, at one time or another, “there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about things.” This is good advice. Here at CORE, while not all of our staff are grandparents, we’re pretty much all Old-Timers. We’ve been in recovery for a long time – long enough to give this same advice about the 5th Step of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The step itself seems straightforward enough. It reads:

“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”

As far as directions go, this one unambiguously calls for a confession of wrongdoing. Notwithstanding, there are some in the recovery world who seem intent on publishing misinformation about it. They can be found online, in the field, and in print. They paint this step as an opportunity for a gripe session, or a time to get things off our chests, or even a chance to have a good cry.  

According to these gurus, we addicts and alcoholics have been holding onto our pent-up emotions for our whole lives, and we need relief. It’s all that negativity weighing us down that prevents us from achieving our true potentials. We need catharsis, a powerful emotional release. So, using the 5th Step to vent about our complaints in life is just what the doctor ordered. We’ve got to turn those frowns upside down, and we have to be fearless and thorough in the process. But be forewarned: while we may be moved to tears, we’ll leave completely satisfied and be free to move forward.

It’s not just the recovery crowd saying these things. We found an addiction recovery center that confidently tells its readers, “The purpose of Step 5 of the 12-Step Program is to unload all your past burdens, let them go, and start moving on from them.”  

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Adam Guss: Phoenix Rising!

Meet Adam Guss! Guss – as he's known around CORE – directs CORE's transportation department in Branson. He also manages one of our men's homes. On top of all that, Guss also is a star player on CORE’s softball team that plays in the Branson Church League. 

As we sat down with Guss and began hearing his testimony, not only were we mesmerized by his story, but we also felt the strangest sensation seize us. In our mind's eye, we practically could see Guss rising from the ashes. His story plainly is about transformation and rebirth! Given a second chance at life, he has arisen renewed and radiant. Today, Guss soars beyond his past difficulties toward newfound heights of growth and possibilities.  

We became overwhelmed by a light bulb moment -- Guss is a phoenix rising! Or, so we hypothesized. The only way we could make sure is by putting feathers and bird's feet on Guss to see how he looks. Does he look like a phoenix? What do you think?

If Guss is or even is like a phoenix, it’s only because he has had a spiritual experience. We must remember, however, that such experiences while very powerful often begin with great suffering. So that’s where we’ll begin his story.  

Twenty years ago, Guss was barely out of high school when he became an addict. Like most addicts, Guss was not exactly a party animal. Rather, he was involved in a car accident that injured his shoulder and required surgery. The surgery wasn't entirely successful, so his doctors put him on pain medication until another one could be performed. “Percs and Norco 10s,” Guss told us, that’s all it took:

“I’d had two shoulder surgeries. The first one didn’t go well, and they had to wait to go back in there. Until then, all they could do was keep me as comfortable as possible. That’s where my addiction to opiates took off. By the time of the second surgery, I was finding OxyContin on the streets from other people.”

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