Principles Before Personalities

Anonymous:  Without any name acknowledged of a person responsible; of unknown name; whose name is withheld.

"The gradual elimination of selfishness in the growth of love for God and your fellow human beings is the goal of life.  Love is the power that transforms your life.  Try to love your family and your friends and then try to love everybody that you possibly can - everybody."

Everybody?  Really?  Even the people who piss me off?

"The spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice.  A.A.'s Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for the common good.  We realize that the sacrificial spirit - well symbolized by anonymity - is the foundation of them all."  Twelve and Twelve, P. 184, Tradition 12.

". . . the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance.  It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities, that we are actually to practice a genuine humility."  Twelve and Twelve, P. 192, Long Form of Tradition 12.

"If my disturbance was seemingly caused by the behavior of others (Ed. Note: I really like the 'seemingly' qualifier here), why do I lack the ability to accept conditions I cannot change  If I am unable to change the present state of affairs, am I willing to take the measures necessary to shape my life to conditions as they are?"  Big Book, P. 52.

I had a long-time sponsor who would often interrupt me: "Principles before personalities, Seaweed, principles before personalities."  Because I was so mortified to admit I had no idea what that meant I didn't have the courage to ask what that meant, exactly.  How I was to apply that famous phrase to my day to day life.  I was often encouraged to read the literature until I found the answer to my question which in this case meant I had to read the entire fucking 12&12 because this particular answer is in Tradition 12.   

So what I found is that magnanimity in action implies that I should be more concerned about others than about myself, that I should sacrifice what I want in service to the greater good, that when I sacrifice my own selfish personal desires then I grasp the spiritual meaning of anonymity, that until I do this I'm going to struggle to achieve any real humility.

THIS is powerful stuff.