Step Four: Courage Part 2 – The spiritual principles behind the 12 steps: Steps 7, 8, 9, Part 3 – Spiritual principles behind the 12 steps: Steps 10, 11, 12, First, a brief version of my disclaimer… Like virtually everything one reads or hears from others, the following write-up isn’t completely objective, and in all likelihood it does not represent Absolute Truth. SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Without a doubt, admitting that one is an addict/alcoholic requires courage and humility. Like most things we find difficult, the answer is in The 12 Steps. Our past is riddled with dishonesty – with self and with others – in our repeated, befuddled attempts to justify our selfish, sick, addictive behavior. This action requires honesty, willingness, courage, and humility. It’s a step towards God, or to whatever our conception of God may be. The Principle of Gratitude. A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to be- 12 Keys - JourneyPure » Blog » The Spiritual Principles of Step Two. You may be thinking, You mean I have to document all of my negative character traits? Yes! My sponsor makes a clear distinction between one’s life and one’s life situation. Step Two: We came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. The principles are guides to progress. One must be brutally honest when it comes to the moral or character defects we displayed every day. Required fields are marked *. We needed help Some of us get a great deal of enjoyment from thinking that we are right about the vast majority of things – clinging to our pride and ego. This is, of course, no big deal, as there is no such thing as an official list of the spiritual principles behind the 12 steps, per se. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 12 Concepts Of AA. Fortunately we lost our copyright to the 1st and 2nd edition which are now in the public domain and are for sale through Anonymous Press. One of the shorter definitions of honesty is the absence of intent to deceive. maintain, the impression of being more spiritual (acts 5:3; jn 8:44). Learn how your comment data is processed. Here are some interesting links for you! I have to admit that I hurt others? This step is really about having the courage to honestly (see step 1) look at yourself. The unmanageability is in our minds, what with our obsessive thinking, resentments, judgments, thinking we know best or that it will be different this time, fretting about the past, anxiety, and fear about the future, and so on. Without this approach, I’d probably consider AA as just another religious group attempting to proselytize me, brainwash me, mold me into its conformist template. Putting these spiritual principles into action gives us an ongoing spiritual practice, whether or not one realizes it or chooses to frame it as such. With some effort, perhaps, we open our minds to the possibility that help is available. Tradition Two: Trust New members especially, confronted with A.A.’s emphasis on recovery from alcoholism by spiritual means, often translate “spiritual” as “religious” and shy away from meetings, avoiding what they perceive as a new and frightening set of beliefs. The primary principle powering the practice of Step One is honesty. Many newbies think they have done well enough in admitting these things to themselves. 844-505-4799 Article Contents. One’s sponsor will share some of their stories with you, and admit their defects to you, too; this provides comfort and security with the realization that we are not alone in our sick behaviors. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him. In step 1 we admit that alcohol is our higher power, and that our lives are unmanageable. Spiritual principles embrace the idea of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality. Without the open-minded notion of choosing a higher power that makes sense, Alcoholics Anonymous would probably not exist in its present form – far from it, most likely. (In AA, it is 4-9 in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous) I am not linking to the General Service Office of AA anymore because they have gone rogue and are no longer practicing the principles of AA. Admissions Staff Are Standing By 24/7 Call Us Now! Commitment. Here we shall do our best to simplify the meaning of the principles behind the 12 steps for those who may be having difficulty. So began my journey of working and accepting the principles and that meant I had to sacrifice something—the denial that had been the shock absorber for my soul. Step Two: We came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. So we used our own conception, however limited it was. It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obses­sion for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us. Forgiveness, Calmness, Brotherhood, Honesty, Thoroughness, Responsibility, Humility Acceptance Tolerance Objective. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss. The main focus of Book One will be on the Twelve Steps. A good Step Five includes revealing your most embarrassing, tormenting, distressing memories to another person — usually your sponsor. The main spiritual principle behind Step Six is willingness; other spiritual principles that apply to this step include honesty, open-mindedness, acceptance, and humility. Surrender to the things we cannot change through our own power is a way to get on with our lives. 844-505-4799 Article Contents. None of us came to the rooms brimming with Emily Post-level manners and etiquette, overflowing with kindness and respect for ourselves or others. Step Eight: Brotherly love; discipline/self-discipline; action Step Five helps us to ease the anxiety, irritability, and depression that inevitably results from hiding the worst parts of ourselves. Third, the spiritually-based principles of AA appear to be endorsed in AA meetings regardless of the perceived social dynamics or climate of a particular meeting, eg, highly cohesive or aggressive. (next reading on 12 Steps) Back to Top. Step 3. Step One: Honesty Let’s take a closer look at each of the 12 Principles of Recovery and how they relate to the Steps. They had not learned enough about humility, honesty, and willingness. We reflect on the past, on the various methods we used in our attempts to control our drinking and using. Discipline, Acceptance, Humility, Patience, Persistence, Self-restraint, Honesty, Willingness, Forgiveness, Fair-minded, Tolerance, Love, Kindness. True humility and real open-mindedness can lead us to recovery if we are persistent. For example, honesty is one of the principles commonly discussed in an AA meeting. They contain no new ideas: surrender, self-inventory, confession to someone outside ourselves, and some form of prayer and meditation are concepts found in spiritual movements throughout the world for thousands of years. Spiritual Principles Of Narcotics Anonymous 1. Honesty. The spiritual principles of AA — which are universal and can apply to anyone whatever his personal creed — are: Honesty, hope, faith, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, love, discipline, perseverance, spirituality and service. We just do it. The Twelve Traditions aid us, individually and collectively, in maintaining unity of purpose within the Fellowship. We will be more comfortable and willing to discuss these things with another person when we understand there are very good reasons to do so. Your email address will not be published. If you settle for your wildest dreams, you will be selling yourself short. Honesty. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach. We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. Bill W. considered each step to be a spiritual principle in and of itself, however, particularly in the 12 & 12, he outlined the spiritual principles behind each step. We are able to rid ourselves of isolation and loneliness once we come out into the open. We peel back the layers of the onion and expose all of it. One’s life, he says, consists of what’s going on in one’s mind: Thoughts, decisions, intentions, all of which lead to our actions. The Twelve Steps is more about human transformation within a set of principles. Admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs seems difficult at first, especially discussing our embarrassing defects and behavior with another person. Your hope of recovery lies in your action, persistence, and application of the principles in all areas of your life. Now when I walk into any Al‑Anon meeting, I try to remember the words that Annie S. spoke when she greeted the wives of those early alcoholics at her door—“Come in my dear. The 12 Principles are basic spiritual concepts that guide the Steps. The steps of Alcoholics Anonymous require real work. We find that the genuine, heartfelt admission of powerlessness is a personal triumph, not a personal failure. Self-Supporting. This is perhaps the first paradox (only a seeming contradiction, really) that you’ll run across in 12-step recovery: One wins when one completely surrenders to the realization of an apparent truth – in this case, powerlessness over mind-altering substances. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. They are questions for each individual to settle for himself. Help must be available, as we see many apparently happy, joyous, and free with months and years of sobriety in our recovery communities. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Such an examination can provide some insight into why the boozing and the drugging started in the first place. Here we begin the process of determining the causes and conditions of our drinking and using. The spiritual principles of AA — which are universal and can apply to anyone whatever his personal creed — are: Honesty, hope, faith, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, love, discipline, perseverance, spirituality and service. A.A.’s Twelve Steps, which constitute its program of recovery, are in no way a statement of belief; they simply describe what the founding members did to get sober and stay sober. Spiritual awakening (or personal spiritual awakening, as some prefer to call it) is only one of the many great topics out there that can become perplexing very quickly. In taking Step Four one must exhibit the courage necessary to honestly and thoroughly examine oneself. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. The operative spiritual principle in Step Two is hope. Honesty Fearlessness Willingness Humility. This is unmanageability, which of course manifests in our life situation. Fourth, significant increases in spiritual and religious beliefs and practices seem to occur among AA-exposed individuals. Step Two: Hope The first Spiritual Principle behind this Step is our good friend, Willingness. This misplaced fear one might have concerning spirituality is bred by such things as: Thoughts and actions that are spiritual for an individual are those that move one toward inner peace, happiness, and contentedness, regardless of our specific beliefs or lack thereof. After all, we used to say, and sort of believe, that we didn’t have a drinking or drug problem. At this point, it is useful to look more carefully into what we mean by our lives had become unmanageable. xix — (principles for AA groups & AA as a whole = 12 Traditions) ... Now we try to put spiritual principles to work in every department of our lives. Take … In some ways, this step begins the process of stepping outside ourselves. Skip to content. Chief among these are the discipline of surrender and the virtue of humility. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. Integrity means being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. Step Twelve: Service; gratitude. Spiritual principles embrace the idea of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality. Tradition Eight: Fellowship At this point, we are well aware that such thinking displays defects that get in the way of being the kind of people we want to be today. When we do that, we find it solves our problems too; the ensuing lack of fear, worry and hurt feelings is a wonderful thing. We want to dispel the Just as the 12 steps lay the spiritual path of recovery for individual members, the 12 Traditions provide the principles that keep 12-step support groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the Al-Anon Family Support Group, healthy and grounded, and … This should be an entirely personal affair which each one decides for himself in the light of past associations, or his present choice. Each of the 12 Steps of AA is accompanied by an associated principle for the step. Tradition Six: Solidarity Over the years we have seen two or three lists of the spiritual principles behind the steps, each list differing as to the specific principle pertaining to a couple of the steps. Some may find this “God of their understanding,” yet never become in-volved with organized religion. Tradition Nine: Structure An honest look may reveal complete powerlessness over drugs and alcohol. Selfish alcoholics and addicts seem to have the tendency to keep score. After all, no human communication is 100% objective. Love, Honesty, Tolerance, Unselfishness, Strength, Serenity, Giving, Fortitude, Faith, Brotherhood, Service, Understanding, Courage, Wisdom, Humility, Information on Meetings and On-line Resources. But what, are these 12 Step Principles — Where did they come from? Folks that are new in recovery often dread the Fourth Step so much they relapse over it. ); The source of the power we need to recover is a power greater than ourselves. When I practise our spiritual principles in all my affairs, I help create that safe place that encourages people to be willing to take on the role of trusted servant. The Spiritual Principles of the 12 Traditions The purpose of our emotional sobriety workshop is to deepen our program by learning new ways to expand our application of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and to help us awaken to the powerful spiritual principles embodied in the Twelve Steps. Good Judgment, Courage, Humility, Sincerity, Forthright, Generous, Willingness. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. He may corrupt your mind and steer you away from the simplicity of christ and his gospel (2 cor 11:3). Spiritual Principles Of Recovery. Traditions” of Alcoholics Anonymous. The most important reason first: If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome our drinking and drugging. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. Spiritual Principles. This is a pamphlet about the Concepts; it is NOT the Concepts themselves. How successful were they, really? Thus I have had to change my thinking – and drastically so. There are many thousands of folks experiencing real recovery, and we can see that the program seems to be working well for many of those in our local recovery communities – an understanding that generates hope and faith that it can work for us, too. Tradition Three: Identity Almost invariably they got drunk or high. Friends of Bill W.: The AA Principles & Virtues from the 12 Steps – Friends of Bill W. 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Step Two is about hope, about possibility, about open-mindedness. way, boredom and complacency have no place in our new life. Step Six: Willingness There is absolutely nothing complicated or hard to understand with regard to spirituality and its principles, including the spiritual principles behind the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Having failed miserably in our own attempts to fix ourselves, we come to realize we cannot do it on our own. Whether an individual chooses to be “spiritual not religious,” to go with Zen, Christianity in the form of Catholicism, Protestantism, or another variety, Taoism, Islam, Buddhism, ecospirituality, or Jainism — or whether one’s higher power consists of AA, an AA group, spiritual principles in general, the Spirit of the Universe, Native American spirituality, or … These principles are laid out as guides to a … The bottom line where honesty is concerned is, if we cannot get honest about the scope of our problem and honest about a sincere effort to resolve it, we will not succeed in our recovery. The Spiritual Principles of Step Two. Readers may or may not agree with the references to a Higher Power. In practicing Step One, we must get brutally honest with ourselves about our addiction to alcohol and other mood-altering substances. (An inventory of self.) When we’re in small book study groups with the men who are currently guests at Discovery Place, we ask them, What is your life? This novel idea is surely one of the reasons Alcoholics Anonymous has thrived all these decades (around 80 years now). But the brilliant idea of having our own concept of God was communicated by Ebby and recorded by Bill, making it available to all of us — creating a fellowship beyond what anyone could have imagined at the time. "Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."

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