<div class="headline_area"> <h1 class="entry-title">SERENITY AFTER THE STORM</h1> <p class="headline_meta"><abbr class="published" title="2010-10-03">October 3, 2010</abbr></p> </div> <blockquote> <p>Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.’s can agree with him. . . . <strong>TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p p. 93-94</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>When on the roller coaster of emotional turmoil, I remember that growth is often painful. My evolution in the A.A. program has taught me that I must experience the inner change, however painful, that eventually guides me from selfishness to selflessness. If I am to have serenity, I must STEP my way past emotional turmoil and its subsequent hangover, and be grateful for continuing spiritual progress.</p>