The Twelve Steps Revisited

When we are afflicted with problems and issues that seem almost impossible to overcome, we wonder where to turn, what steps we can take.

The steps below are from long ago. At times, they seem to be forgotten, neglected, as new waves of self-help enlightenment guruship have emerged to replace them.

However, upon re-reflection, these Twelve Steps seem hold immense power that may supersede much of what is now being promulgated.

Could something so simple as these steps, have such potency?

It is a tough decision to decide which steps to take when overcoming life's challenges. There are so many paths to choose from.

In narrowing it down, one might wish to revisit the following steps below. They originated from Alcoholics Anonymous, but they can be applied to almost any of life's challenges, daunting though they may be.

  1. We admitted we were powerless over that which consumed us and we were unable to control - that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others in need, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.