It says in How it Works that "some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely." . The word absolutely doesn't allow much wiggle room. If it means that I have totally and completely let go to all of my old ideas, then to be honest I haven't made much progress in this department.
The reason I can tell I still have old ideas is that I still have character defects. If the character defect is a weed, then at the end of the root of each character defect is the seed of an old idea that I haven't yet let go of. Here's just a few of the ideas I'm still obviously carrying around:
--It is my wife's responsibility to make me happy.
--I've been put on this earth to achieve something.
--The chief aim of life is to be comfortable.
--If I act considerately towards you, you should act considerately towards me.
--I will someday receive extra points for trying to do everything perfectly
Maybe one of the most powerful old ideas I still carry is that I am totally responsible for every aspect of my life and if a problem arises I must solve it myself without any help. Without God gracing me with a moment of clarity, this idea might very well have killed me!
As I look at this list now it seems almost silly to still hold on to most of these. Why don't I just drop them? I guess I will let go when I am entirely ready to let go.
Even though I obviously haven't let go of all of my old ideas, I must have let go of enough of them for my Higher Power to come in and work in my life. Because my result hasn't been "nil" at all, it's been a far better life than I could possibly imagine eleven years ago. Thanks totally to the program and fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.