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OTHER BOOKS
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
An interpretive commentary on the A.A. program
by a co-founder
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age
A brief history of A.A.’s first two decades
As Bill Sees It
(formerly The A.A. Way of Life)
Selected writings of A.A.’s co-founder
Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers
A biography, with recollections of early A.A. in the Midwest
Pass It On
Bill W.’s life story; how the A.A. message reached the world
Daily Reflections
A book of reflections by A.A. members for A.A. members
Experience, Strength and Hope
Stories from the first three editions of Alcoholics Anonymous
BOOKLETS
Came to Believe …
Spiritual experiences of 75 A.A.’s
Living Sober
Practical suggestions heard at meetings
A.A. in Prison: Inmate to Inmate
Former Grapevine articles by people who found A.A. in prison
TWELVE
STEPS
and
TWELVE
TRADITIONS
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
BOX 459, GRAND CENTRAL STATION
NEW YORK, NY 10163
Copyright © 1952, 1953, 1981 by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc. and Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing (now known as Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
All rights reserved
First Printing, April 1953
Seventy-eighth Printing, June 2013
This is A.A. General Service
Conference-approved literature
Alcoholics Anonymous and A.A. are registered
trademarks® of A.A. World Services, Inc.
ISBN 978-0-916856-01-4
eISBN 978-1-893007-69-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 53-5454
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
THE TWELVE STEPS
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Who cares to admit complete defeat? Admission of powerlessness is the first step in liberation. Relation of humility to sobriety. Mental obsession plus physical allergy. Why must every A.A. hit bottom?
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
What can we believe in? A.A. does not demand belief; Twelve Steps are only suggestions. Importance of an open mind. Variety of ways to faith. Substitution of A.A. as Higher Power. Plight of the disillusioned. Roadblocks of indifference and prejudice. Lost faith found in A.A. Problems of intellectuality and self-sufficiency. Negative and positive thinking. Self-righteousness. Defiance is an outstanding characteristic of alcoholics. Step Two is a rallying point to sanity. Right relation to God.
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
Step Three is like opening of a locked door. How shall we let God into our lives? Willingness is the key. Dependence as a means to independence. Dangers of self-sufficiency. Turning our will over to Higher Power. Misuse of willpower. Sustained and personal exertion necessary to conform to God’s will.
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
How instincts can exceed their proper function. Step Four is an effort to discover our liabilities. Basic problem of extremes in instinctive drives. Misguided moral inventory can result in guilt, grandiosity, or blaming others. Assets can be noted with liabilities. Self-justification is dangerous. Willingness to take inventory brings light and new confidence. Step Four is beginning of lifetime practice. Common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression. Inventory reviews relationships. Importance of thoroughness.
“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Twelve Steps deflate ego. Step Five is difficult but necessary to sobriety and peace of mind. Confession is an ancient discipline. Without fearless admission of defects, few could stay sober. What do we receive from Step Five? Beginning of true kinship with man and God. Lose sense of isolation, receive forgiveness and give it; learn humility; gain honesty and realism about ourselves. Necessity for complete honesty. Danger of rationalization. How to choose the person in whom to confide. Results are tranquility and consciousness of God. Oneness with God and man prepares us for following Steps.
“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
Step Six necessary to spiritual growth. The beginning of a lifetime job. Recognition of difference between striving for objective—and perfection. Why we must keep trying. “Being ready” is all-important. Necessity of taking action. Delay is dangerous. Rebellion may be fatal. Point at which we abandon limited objectives and move toward God’s will for us.
“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
What is humility? What can it mean to us? The avenue to true freedom of the human spirit. Necessary aid to survival. Value of ego-puncturing. Failure and misery transformed by humility. Strength from weakness. Pain is the admission price to new life. Self-centered fear chief activator of defects. Step Seven is change in attitude which permits us to move out of ourselves toward God.
“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
This and the next two Steps are concerned with personal relations. Learning to live with others is a fascinating adventure. Obstacles: reluctance to forgive; nonadmission of wrongs to others; purposeful forgetting. Necessity of exhaustive survey of past. Deepening insight results from thoroughness. Kinds of harm done to others. Avoiding extreme judgments. Taking the objective