REAPING THE BENEFITS OF THE 12 STEPS
Since becoming a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have found that the Twelve Steps of this program of recovery have become a central part of my life. Although in my early days of recovery I could not remember one from the other, I have found that with time this changed and now these Twelve Steps have taken on a new meaning that I have condensed in the following way.
I believe the First Step has given me direction to be honest with myself. Until I adopted that principle, I could not accept the disease of alcoholism. But, when I did get honest with myself, AA and you people were placed in my life.
I don't believe we, as individuals, can do anything about our disease until we honestly know that we are sick.
The Second Step is hope, hope that there is a way to treat my disease and to remove the unmanageability in my life.
Step Three is faith. The definition of Faith, for me, is that although I don't know what is going to happen in my life, by trusting God, I know it's going to be all right.
Step Four, is courage, courage to change everything as it is explained in Chapter Two of the Big Book. I found that first I need to take an inventory of my character defects that need to be changed and then to use that awareness to trust my feelings and act on them.
Step Five is integrity, the state of being complete or whole. For me, this came by sharing the things that had kept my life in a shambles for so many years.
Step Six is willingness to have God remove all these defects. His Will not mine! As in the Serenity Prayer, it is also the willingness to change the things that need to be changed.
Step Seven is humility. Until I adopted humility in my life, my ego seemed to be out of control, and it was difficult to turn over my will and life to God. When I worked Step Seven and adopted Humility, I found that I was powerless over people, places, things, and situations. I realized the only thing left was that I could change my attitude toward them by turning my will over to that Power greater than myself.
Step Eight is brotherly-love, a principle I had heard about, but was never able to understand until I worked Step Eight. Today I try treat people as I want to be treated.
Step Nine is discipline, a very important principle to me as an alcoholic. Everything was out of control when I got here. Today, by disciplining myself to live one day at a time--live and let live, let go and let God, don't take the first drink, pray in the morning for guidance, pray in the evening thanking God for the day He has given me--my life continues to get better each day.
Step Ten is perseverance, my perseverance to make sure that by taking an inventory daily I can keep little things that bother me from becoming an anchor around my neck.
Step Eleven is the awareness of the ever presence of God in my life today. This is my pivotal step. Everything revolves around my conscious contact with God as I understand him. Spirituality.
Step Twelve is service. I've found that I have to keep it. There are many forms of service--sharing at meetings, being a Grapevine representative writing articles, sponsoring others, performing AA service work--but I believe the most important is showing up at meetings to be there for others when they reach out as AA was there for me. I am forever grateful that when I asked for help, you were there.
When I read the Twelve Steps or hear them read at meetings, I am reminded that I must continue to apply these principles in my life and to reach out my hand to the newcomer who walks into the meeting hall. Because we are all here to share the experience, strength, and hope of our sobriety.
from Stepping Stones to Recovery by Bill Pittman, pages 109-111