December
25
Anonymity
And
Self-Will
"The
drive
for
personal
gain...
which
brought
so
much
pain
in
the
past
falls
by
the
wayside
if
we
adhere
to
the
principle
of
anonymity."
Basic
Text
pg.
73
The
word
anonymity
itself
means
namelessness,
but
there's
a
larger
principle
at
work
in
the
anonymity
of
the
NA
program:
the
principle
of
selflessness.
When
we
admit
our
powerlessness
to
manage
our
own
lives,
we
take
our
first
step
away
from
self-will
and
our
first
step
toward
selflessness.
The
less
we
try
to
run
our
lives
on
self-will,
the
more
we
find
the
power
and
direction
once
so
sorely
lacking
in
our
lives.
But
the
principle
of
selflessness
does
a
lot
more
than
just
make
us
feel
better-it
helps
us
live
better.
Our
ideas
of
how
the
world
should
be
run
begin
to
lose
their
importance,
and
we
stop
trying
to
impose
our
will
on
everyone
and
everything
around
us.
And
when
we
abandon
our
"know-it-all"
pretensions
and
start
recognizing
the
value
of
other
peoples'
experience,
we
start
treating
them
with
respect.
The
interests
of
others
become
as
important
to
us
as
our
own;
we
start
to
think
about
what's
best
for
the
group,
rather
than
just
what's
best
for
us.
We
start
living
a
life
that's
bigger
than
we
are,
that's
more
than
just
us,
our
name,
ourselves
-
we
start
living
the
principle
of
anonymity.
Just
for
today:
God,
please
free
me
from
self-will.
Help
me
understand
the
principle
of
anonymity;
help
me
to
live
selflessly.
