12 Steps
Step 1
- We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had
become unmanageable
Step 2
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity
Step 3 - Made a
decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood
God
Step 4 - Made a
searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5 - Admitted
to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our
wrongs
Step 6 - Were entirely
ready to have God remove all these defects of character
Step 7 - Humbly
asked God to remove our shortcomings
Step 8 - Made a
list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to
them all
Step 9
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others
Step 10
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we
were wrong promptly admitted it
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
Working The 12 Steps These Are The Amazing Promises That Will Come True For Us
This sounds like a big order, and we can't do it all
at once. We didn't become addicted in one day, so remember - EASY DOES IT.
There is one thing more than anything else that will defeat us in our recovery;
this is an attitude of indifference or intolerance toward spiritual principles.
Three of these that are indispensable are honesty, open-mindedness and willingness.
With these we are well on our way.
We feel that our approach to the disease of addiction is completely realistic,
for the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel.
We feel that our way is practical, for one addict can best understand and
help another addict. We believe that the sooner we face our problems within
our society, in everyday living, just that much faster do we become acceptable,
responsible, and productive members of that society.
The only way to keep from returning to active addiction is not to take that
first drug. If you are like us you know that one is too many and a thousand
never enough. We put great emphasis on this, for we know that when we use
drugs in any form, or substitute one for another, we release our addiction
all over again.
Thinking of alcohol as different from other drugs has caused a great many
addicts to relapse. Before we came to N.A., many of us viewed alcohol separately,
but we cannot afford to be confused about this. Alcohol is a drug. We are
people with the disease of addiction who must abstain from all drugs in
order to recover.