Is AA right for you? To find out, it's important to carefully explore the principles of AA. For Wilson and Smith, surrendering to a “higher power” was an integral part of developing their plan. Today, some critics of the program find that aspect of AA problematic, arguing that self-empowerment is an effective way to control addiction and achieve lasting recovery. The first step in AA is to admit your helplessness, which boils down to a level of honesty that many addicts have not achieved until now.
Many people under the spell of addiction or alcoholism think that “it's not that bad or that they can” stop at any time. Step 2 is about finding faith in some higher power, and the accompanying principle of hope means that you should never give up that faith, even when you suffer a setback. This virtue is easy to understand when it comes to practicing it on a daily basis. In recovery, not every moment will be positive, but if you keep that hope and faith alive, you will return to the other side.
Step 4, which involves documenting all the mistakes you've made, is clearly linked to courage. Part of your past will be painful, and you may have to deal with some of your biggest regrets. Living courageously means that you can start from scratch without forgetting your past completely. Step 5 consists of taking the moral inventory made in step 4 and admitting first to God, to yourself and finally to another person.
You can practice integrity in your recovery by talking about everything that makes you feel guilty and your mistakes. Basically, having integrity is living honestly. In step 6, you need to prepare to have your sins taken away by admitting to yourself that you are fully ready to overcome them. Will as a virtue means that you have to be prepared to be acquitted in order to move forward without looking back.
You must have a good disposition in everything you do. In step 4, you catalogued your past, and in step 6, you admitted them and freed yourself from guilt and shame. Step 7 is to be willing to free yourself from your past. In step 8, you ask God for forgiveness, or another higher power.
Humility is one of the simplest principles to understand because it is simple. When you're humble, you're aware of the fact that you're not an important part of the big picture. Humility in daily practice means never seeing you more important than you are. Love is empathy and compassion, and Step 8 asks you to make a list of all the people you've hurt on your journey to where you are now.
You also have to be willing to make amends, which shows that you really care about the people on your list. Practicing your sobriety with the principle of love means that you not only exist for yourself, but that you are at the service of the people you care about. Step 10 refers very clearly to its own principle. It's one thing to take a personal inventory and admit our mistakes once.
Discipline is needed to continue doing this throughout life. Step 11 tries to move forward without losing the notion of a higher power. The ongoing awareness that this requires makes it easy to match the step with the principle that accompanies it. The spiritual principles of AA are directly linked to the 12 steps.
These 12 steps are used by many recovery programs, not just Alcoholics Anonymous. From courage to self-discipline, there are many principles that must be understood and embraced during a person's journey to sobriety. AA, of course, focuses heavily on the principles of Christianity, but many of the current groups have modernized the principles to reflect a more diverse audience. The way to carry out this principle is to always remind yourself that you are at the mercy of a higher power and that you are not the first.
By studying the program, how it works, and each of its principles, you can determine if this type of program is right for you. Here is a breakdown of the principles that coincide with each step and how to practice them in a way that helps you create sustainable sobriety within the principles of AA and NA. By 1939 and the publication of The Big Book, Wilson and Smith revised its principles, expanding them to reflect their work and progress. But the beauty of the Steps and Principles is that you can always start over or pick up where you left off.
Admitting that you are powerless in the face of alcohol is the first step and the first principle that a recovering addict must complete. This is precisely why it is so important to have a better understanding of the 12 principles of recovery. Living with the principle of service means that it is your responsibility to help others as they helped you when you started working on the 12 steps. The 12 Principles of AA are essentially the work of the founders of AA, but early in AA's history, the organization listed six principles, many of which were influenced by the founders' experience with The Oxford Group.
Some of them seem common sense, but I understand that going into exercise, reading these principles and actually practicing them in daily life are two completely different things (and that the latter requires vigilance and will). With the publication of the organization's principles and writings, word began to spread about its success. Thank you for this perfect example of the steps and principles that I wanted to share with my sponsor and a review for me, of course, the best part of this program and the recovery. .
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