Twelve Steps

I am an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous, choosing to sacrifice my anonymity for the good of others. I am not ashamed of being an alcoholic due to my desperation opening up a way of life I could not have imagined possible through the twelve steps.

I used to numb my feelings with alcohol. Suppressing needed emotions and avoiding pain. I was at a standstill, headed for a brick wall on the train of addiction. I couldn’t stop. I was given the gift of desperation.

I am a grateful alcoholic.

In the groups I attend, groups that envelop me like a warm blanket, I learn how to live. AA and the twelve steps are not about putting down the drink, that is only the beginning. AA is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience strength and hope with one another in an attempt to help others, and themselves achieve sobriety.

Sobriety is not just about not drinking.

It’s about living.

During this Coronavirus shut down, I find that the AA way of life is a way of peace and serenity in which I can face life as it is and not as I would have it.  We say in groups, “we have all the tools we need to handle this crisis,” and it’s true.

We work the first three of the twelve steps:

1. We admit we are powerless over the Coronavirus and that our lives have become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe in a power greater than ourselves, who could restore us to sanity.
3. We decide to turn our lives and our will over to the care of God.

We say the Serenity Prayer.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

We say the Lord’s Prayer at the end of every meeting.

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be one on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the power the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Can you see the parallels we can draw for living through all difficulties?

We can admit our powerlessness. We can accept the reality and help of God. We can learn to do the things we can and accept the things about which we can do nothing.

We can stop playing God.

We can admit we know only a little and turn our lives and will over to Him.

You cannot imagine the peace this way of life brings!  It is truly amazing.

Try this today:

-Try admitting your powerlessness (fill in the blank)

-Try accepting God’s power and help

-Stop trying to play God

-Stop controlling and let go

-Admit that He is your Father and lean into his will for you

In AA, we pray “only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.”

Simple.

Try it.

It works if you work it.

Learn more about Maggie on her bio page, complete with welcome video HERE