12 Steps Tidbits

[janbear]

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bluidkiti
Administrator



Age: 44
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 7079


Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:57 am Post subject: 12 Steps Tidbits

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12 principles: step 1=honestly, step 2=hope, step 3=faith, step
4=courage, step 5=integrity, step 6=willingness, step 7=humility, step
8=brotherly love, step 9=discipline, step 10=perseverance, step 11=awareness
of God, step 12=service.
A fool wonders, a wise man travels by route of the 12 steps.
If you don't do a good 4th step you might pick up a 5th.
The first step puts us on the program. Steps two to ten ready us for
the program. In steps ten, eleven and twelve we adjust ourselves for our
daily relationship with God and our fellowmen.
No one ever really gets "on the program" of A.A. until they take the
first step. No one ever stays "on the program" of A.A. without continuous
twelve step activities.
First three steps: I can't, He can, let Him.
Growth and Maintenance steps: Congratulations! You are now ready to
rocket into a fourth dimension of existence of which we have not even
dreamed. By living the essence of steps 10, 11, & 12, we are bound to
maintain our sobriety and to grow spiritually. The promises on pages 84 & 85
establish that the problem (obsession) will be removed and the promises on
page 88 reveal how we will grow emotionally and spiritually from what we
are, to what God would have us be. Remember: all you have to do is:
clean house: step 10
trust God: step 11
help others step: 12
One step get's you nowhere, you got to keep going.
Sanity returns between steps 2-10 which is the lost of interest in
alcohol.
Step 3 is the step that triggers the action of the program.
Step 9: look the other person in the eye and say, "I have been wrong
and caused you harm, will you please tell me what I must do so that we can
get the books balanced."
Step 10 is living steps 4-9 daily.
Step 10 reduces your character defects and increases your relationship
with God, others and yourself.
Step 10: part one: continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty,
resentment and fear. We learned to do this in step 4: part two: when these
crop up, we ask God, at once to remove them.
Steps 1-3: puts you in the right relationship with God.
Steps 4-7: puts you in the right relationship with yourself.
Steps 8 & 9 puts you in the right relationship with your fellows.
Steps 1-3=find God
Steps 4-11=clean house
Step 12=help others
Steps 8 & 9 gives you the chance to set things right with other people
and to get rid of fear, guilt, remorse, and shame.
Steps 10-12 are designed to help you continue your spiritual growth.
Step 12: working with new alcoholics, whether wet or dry, brings us
very much in touch with step 1 (powerlessness) and step 2 (the power which
is keeping us sober). This action keeps us convinced that we cannot rely on
our own knowledge or will power--that we must stay spiritually fit and not
rest on our laurels!
It is important that we understand and practice the directions, chapter 7.
We may then begin to build a fellowship around us.
Step 12 asks us to carry this message--not our message, some message or
something else we thought up, but this one. The one in the Big Book.
The A.A. slogans are shorthand for 12 steps.
The step prior prepares you to execute the next one.
The steps can't be described, recorded yes, but not described. They
must be experienced.
The steps give us a purpose in life for living instead of existing.
The twelve promises are the results of the first nine steps.
The twelve steps are steep, hard to climb but made easier by
remembering there are two handrails--God and the AA Fellowship.
The twelve steps boil down to one thing: change.
To get to where we want to be (Step 2) we take (Steps 3-12) from where
we are (Step 1).

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