You can find the directions to do your “sexual inventory” on none other than page 69 in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. HURRAY for great coincidences. My personal favorite Bill W. wrote: “WE DO NOT WANT TO BE THE ARBITER OF ANYONE’S SEX CONDUCT. An arbiter is a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter) OF ANYONE’S SEX CONDUCT.”
Firstly I try to remember that not everyone’s moral compass is set on the same settings as mine. As long as no law is being broken and no one is getting (badly) hurt then like Bill W says; other people’s sex conduct.
The Fourth Step Sexual Inventory only works when I apply it to myself. So what kind of things do I needs to write down? God gave mankind a great gift called the “conscience” and that is what I will use along with prayer. The things in my past that I feel guilty for and ashamed of these things need to come out into the open, out of my mind they will then lose power over me. First I put them to paper then I confess them aloud in my fifth step.
WHY?!!!!! WHY DREDGE UP THE PAST, BURYING IT SEEMS LIKE A BETTER IDEA. Yes so it seems, however experience teaches us that confession is good for the soul. Furthermore the intense emotions that we try to hide WILL come out sideways. Things like wrath, blame, emotional struggles, and intense anger derive from the feelings that we bury. These emotions need to be expressed and then let go. It takes either a miracle or some emotional work to clear the wreckage of the past is to face it and come to terms with it. The Fourth Step runs more people out of the rooms than anything else. I have had countless women make it through steps one, two, and three, only to bolt at the prospect of confessing their deep dark secrets.
The good news is that on page 69 there are a group of questions to guide us through the sexual inventory. Also if we pray before we start the work IT WILL give it the supernatural kick we need. We are striving for a psychic change. “The same man will drink again” therefore we must do the work that is outlined in the twelve steps.
And most importantly remember, its all been said and done before. There are only seven deadly sins and there are only so many sexually perverse things we can engage in. Usually the sponcee is the only one affected by his own actions. When we confess our shortcomings we most likely will feel relieved but we most certainly will improve our emotional healthy by it.