12 Steps to a Better Life…

Recovery. That’s what everyone thinks when you mention the phrase 12 steps. Usually associated to alcoholics and drug addicts, the 12 Step Program is absolutely amazing in its simplicity and effectiveness.

I have had the opportunity to be around and witness an addict’s downward spiral first hand. As such, I’ve read through much of the A.A Big Book and the N.A. Basic Text. What I found in there was a program for finding yourself and finding an amazing peace (Serenity) that can come into anyone’s life.

You see, the 12 Steps aren’t just for alcoholics and addicts. Anyone can live by them and use them to have a better life.

First published in 1939, the 12 Step Program is designed for people that can’t find any other way to live, except through alcohol. Written by people that successfully travelled the road from ruin back to a normal and successful life, it holds within it a great set of truths and a proven program to become a better, healthier person.

So, I’m going to run a new series here. One that looks at the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program and will, I hope, show you how you can use these principles and ideas to guide you into a becoming a better person, for yourself and everyone around you. If you’re interested in finding out more than I provide here, Google is your friend. :-) And you can also look here.

Here are the original A.A 12 Steps.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve 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.


Notice that the Steps refer to a “Power greater than ourselves”. They shorthand that in the Steps as God, but it’s not limited to that. You can believe in ANYTHING you want, God, Allah, Squirrels, it doesn’t matter, so long as you believe that there is some Power greater than yourself. And I think everyone here would agree on that point.

Now, I’m going to break each of these down, and, if you’re lucky, I might even include some things to help everyone walk through these steps with me. See, I’m going to make a commitment to each of you and myself, my friends, and mostly, my son, that I’m going to walk through this path as I lay it down here. There’s no excuse why you can’t do this with me. After all, the reason that A.A meetings exist is to provide support for everyone walking the Steps.

I think that everyone in the World wants to be a better person. It’s probably one thing we all agree on. :-)

So, walk with me a while, work with me sometimes, and smile with me often.

And maybe we can come out together, better than when we went in.