Reliance & Trust

“Reliance on your idea of a Higher Power or higher purpose does for you what you could not do for yourself. You can trust this process; it works for us, and it can work for you, too.” Page 130, EDA Big Book

The words reliance and trust are woven through all the steps. I researched them which gave me clarity on how to incorporate them into my life.

-Rely means “being bound to” while the suffix -ance means “the state of”. Thus, reliance is “the state of being bound by”. What am I bound by?

I am bound to trust. Trust that the steps will work for me as they have worked for others. Trust that my conception of a Higher Power will enable me to live my life with balance and perspective. Trust that taking care of basics will lead to self-trust, which to me is the ultimate expression of what my Higher Power wants for me.

The root of trust is ‘deru’ which also is the root of tree and truth. Deru means ‘to be firm and steadfast’. The realization that trust, truth & tree all spring from the same strong root showed me that trust is my tree of truth. It is the beginning of the process (trusting in the steps) and the result of the process (gaining self-trust).

When I blend reliance and trust, I imagine being bound to a beautiful tree. The binding doesn’t restrict my freedom – it creates freedom. When I rely on trust in the process and my Higher Power, self-trust blooms.

I seek to rely on trust, one day at a time, one moment at a time.