Ron H. – Steps 6-7 Defects – Standing In A Posture Of Surrender – 1998

About This Speaker Tape

Ron walks through the evolution of Narcotics A. from the early days of the 1980 Wichita convention to the present, framing recovery as a process of subtraction rather than addition. He dismantles the idea of the 'poison tree'—the addict as a social pariah—and argues that the very sickness of the past becomes the medicine for others.

Ron digs into the mechanics of the 6th and 7th Steps, challenging the notion that character defects like lust are entirely removed, but rather that the underlying character shifts toward integrity. He uses the metaphor of a hitchhiker in a pickup truck to illustrate the absurdity of clinging to one's burdens while being carried by a Higher Power, concluding that the core of the program is simply learning how to put the heavy pack down.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Opening joke about Roseanne and the 'Clearly' response.
• 2:45 Ron recalls the 1980 Wichita convention and the illegality of NA in New York City.
• 6:15 Laughter: Story about the first NA meeting in Fargo and the speaker's honesty about masturbation.
• 10:30 The 'Poison Tree' metaphor: transforming sickness into medicine.
• 14:15 Discussion of Step 6 and 7: the shift from removing lust to gaining integrity.
• 18:45 Analysis of Step 1: the commonality of the disease of addiction regardless of drug or background.
• 22:30 The Revolutionary War history quiz and the 'declaration' of the 3rd Step.
• 26:10 Step 6 analysis: the 'verb of being' and the posture of ongoing surrender.
• 30:00 Mention of Pepe and the 10th Step: the 'promptly' clause in marriage arguments.
• 34:20 The Hitchhiker metaphor: putting down the backpack while in the pickup truck.