This article will introduce you to the 12 Steps.
Step One: We admitted we were powerless, that our lives were unmanageable.
Step One is not a criticism or a statement of how bad we are. It is a doorway to a greater life of more power and better outcomes.
We Looked at Our Lives
In Step One, we admit to ourselves that the way we are thinking and acting is not giving us what we want. We admit to ourselves that the way we are living has led to a life that has the rewards we want.
Looking Outside Ourselves, Yet Looking within
In Step One, we are looking outward for something better in life, not knowing perhaps how we will find something better, but hoping there is a good answer for us. We are willing to try something different.
From my experience, no one in the world is really OK, fully well and completely healthy. Life is harsh for everyone to varying degrees; we live in a predatory world where creatures compete, fight and kill … humans included. This way of living hurts everyone.
A Better Way to Live
While predatory instincts can have their place for basic survival. There may be a better way to live — where compassion, love and forgiveness create a world more gentle and rewarding for ourselves, regardless of how others are acting around us.
You Can Do It
It may sound impossible; it is not.
Becoming who we are, our strongest self, is a lifelong process. Beginning the process can be difficult at first, but once we get going with healthy habits, daily meditation and a focus on a better life, the process of living can be exquisitely enjoyable, however difficult our life circumstances may be.
An Example from My Life
For example, my life circumstances are a little rough at this moment, I have a baby sister who has breast cancer; my mother died a year ago, and as Christmas nears, I am feeling the loss of family; this creates stress, insecurity and grief. My mind is reviewing the troubles of my past, so I have needed to do something about this, to not fall too deep into despair.
Today’s Solution to My Problem
In the morning, I did a little meditation and prayer. I connected with a Higher Power, a better sense of being, my strong and peaceful self.
I then spent time with a man older and more experienced with the 12 Steps than I am. He is a wise man, a saint, but flawed as any human.
His calm made me calm. His happiness made me happy. With him, I remembered my strong, resilient and healthy self.
A Noon Meeting
At noon, I went to a wonderful meeting, where some are strong and healthy, with others weak, unsure and in need of help.
The meeting helped me feel better, transformed and strong. I helped others be better, and they helped me.
I went to the meeting with the older man older man I described. My time with him gave me calm and set me back on track, to a more enjoyable and steady day.
The meeting gave me strength and reminded me of the good in myself. I met people who know me well, like me and support me in my life.
A Sponsor
In the 12 Steps, a “Sponsor” is really a recovery partner and mentor, a coach if they have this ability. A good sponsor is someone on the same path as you, but a bit farther on. A sponsor is someone working the 12 Steps on a daily basis and has a sponsor.
12 Steps Are Like a Sport
The 12 Steps are like a sport: the more you practice, the better you get at life, as who you are with happiness, strength and calm regardless of what the world around you is doing.
We can be happy and strong even if our circumstances are not happy and not validating.
