The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous comprise a group of principles that, when applied with intention and consistency, transform our lives. We have the opportunity with them to turn from a destructive way of life to one that is meaningful, purposeful and powerful.
AA literature does not isolate or boil these principles down into single words, as I’ve done here. I first learned these in the late 1980s at the addictions treatment facility at Suncoast Hospital in Florida. In the years since have heard variations on some of them, however, this particular list feels thorough and true to me and has been helpful to countless people over the years.
These principles are the building blocks of a strong, lasting recovery.
The 12 Steps and Their Principles:
Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Principle: ACCEPTANCE – recognizing our problem and its broad effects.
Step Two: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Principle: HOPE – having the desire and expectation for something better.
Step Three: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
Principle: FAITH – to put our trust in something greater than our finite, limited self.
Step Four: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
Principle: RESPONSIBILITY – taking ownership of who and what we are, as well as our thoughts, feelings and actions.
Step Five: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Principle: COURAGE – the willingness to face our deepest truths and have them witnessed.
Step Six: “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
Principle: WILLINGNESS – making a reasoned, conscious choice to change.
Step Seven: “Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.”
Principle: HUMILITY – being self-honest and being teachable, willing to grow and change.
Step Eight: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
Principle: RESPECT – to live with honor and esteem for ourselves and others.
Step Nine: “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
Principle: INTEGRITY – doing what we know is right on behalf of our relations with others, despite potential personal discomfort.
Step Ten: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
Principle: COMMITMENT – to pledge ourselves to maintaining honesty and integrity.
Step Eleven: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.”
Principle: POWER – to own who we are as a part of a greater Source, and to use our capabilities, strengths, and talents for a higher purpose.
Step Twelve: ”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.”
Principle: SERVICE – willingness to help others and to keep growing.
I have 27 days, I’m trying to learn the principles of AA. I have a sponcer but she really isn’t much help. I have read through the principles, I was hoping that you would give me some guide lines as I practice al of the principles