Ego Sum: ‘I am.’
“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
Step Seven moves us from readiness into humility. We admit not only that change is possible, but that we cannot orchestrate it entirely by our own strength. Humility is not humiliation — it is clarity about who we are and who we are not.
For the addict, this is the shift from desperate self-reliance to the willingness to be reshaped by a Higher Power. For the rest of us, it is the laying down of pride, the admission that our stubborn grip on self-made perfection cannot heal us. Step Seven asks us to approach life not with swagger, but with open hands.
The Stoics understood humility well. Marcus Aurelius wrote: “Do not imagine that if something is hard for you to achieve, it is humanly impossible; but if something is possible and appropriate for a human being, know that it is within your reach.” Humility here means recognizing both our limits and our possibilities. It is accepting our place in the order of things without resentment.
For me, humility has often meant surrendering the idea that I must fix myself by force of will and admitting my many, many imperfections. My procrastination, my self-criticism, my old habits, even my bouts of extreme emotionalism — none of these dissolved because I gnashed harder. They began to loosen only when I admitted, “I can’t do this alone.” Step Seven is the practice of asking, with humility, for help.
Humility is strength under truth. It is not groveling, but standing honestly before God, before others, and before life itself. In this posture, our shortcomings are no longer a life sentence; they become raw material for transformation.
Meditation
Say to yourself:
I humbly ask to be changed. I am enough as I am, yet I am willing to be made new.
Reflection Bridge
Step Six made us ready for change. Step Seven is the prayerful act of humility that invites that change to take root.
Invitation
Ask yourself:
Where in my life am I still pretending I can do it all on my own, and what might happen if I asked for help?
Have a humble day—Joe.