Since its inception in 1939, AA has become a national instituion. The 12 Steps are now used for everything from eating disorders to emotional problems. The prevalance of AA groups around the world makes it an excellent source of support, providing a place where recovering alcoholics can come together to help each other stay sober. Alcoholics helping other alcoholics is a primary principle of AA and in my recovery, the understanding of others who have been through many of the same experiences I have is a recovery tool without parallel.
Here are the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the power of God
as we understood him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to ourselves, to God and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make
amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others.
10. We concinuted to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to increase our conscious contact
with God, as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of his will for
us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our
affairs.
Here is AA's official website: http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/?Media=PlayFlash
Tomorrow I'll write about some other models of recovery and support groups available.
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget, I'm eager to hear from you!!
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4 years ago
5 comments:
Mighty quiet out here...I think we're all staying anonymous! Cautious readers. It's an excellent post though!
Thanks for stopping by.
i love these steps...they are a blueprint for a life well-lived. i particularly liked the "moral inventory." i think a lot of people _don't_ do that, and it's a shame.
i learned about it in a different form, in vacation bible school about a million years ago...it's called the golden rule, the do-uno-others rule, and if everyone _really_ practised it, the world would be a very different place.
of course, that requires taking a moral inventory...you have to be clear about exactly what you're doing, and how it affects others, and yourself...
so interesting, Angela! what a wonderful blog you're creating!!!
A creative and multi-faceted site. Good to see an open mind about methods of recovery.
The common obstacle I see at our Transitional Living Home, for women is putting more focus on relationships ahead of a their program. While men are also guilty of this, the percentage of females is much greater. Sad, but true.
John,
I've certainly fallen into that trap before myself. I don't know what the answer is, but empowerment seems like a good place to start. Thanks for visiting.
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