Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions - ccaa.org.au

1 Twelve STEPSandTWELVE TRADITIONSTWELVESTEPSandTWELVETRADITIONS x alcoholics anonymous WORLD SERVICES, 459, GRAND CENTRAL STATIONNEW YORK, NY 10163 Copyright 1952, 1953, 1981 by The Grapevine,Inc. and alcoholics anonymous Publishing (nowknown as alcoholics anonymous World Services, Inc.)All rights reservedFirst Printing, April 1953 Sixty-fourth Printing, January 2003 Windows Help version, July 1994*Electronic .PDF version, September 2005+This edition is NOT General Service Conference approved literatureALCOHOLICS anonymous and are registeredtrademarks of World Services, 0-916856-01-1 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.

2 53-5454 Printed in the United States of America* Transcribed by Mr. D.. Software development by cyb.+ .PDF version based upon the text of the Windows Help versionand published by ARID Media. World Services and itssubsidiaries were not involved within the production of thisspecific Twelve STEPSStep One21 We admitted we were powerless over alcohol thatour lives had become unmanageable. Who cares to admit complete defeat? Admission of pow-erlessness is the first step in liberation. Relation of humili-ty to sobriety. Mental obsession plus physical must every hit bottom?

3 step Two25 Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselvescould restore us to sanity. What can we believe in? does not demand belief; Twelve Steps are only suggestions. Importance of an openmind. Variety of ways to faith. Substitution of asHigher Power. Plight of the disillusioned. Roadblocks ofindifference and prejudice. Lost faith found in Prob-lems of intellectuality and self-sufficiency. Negative andpositive thinking. Self-righteousness. Defiance is an out-standing characteristic of alcoholics . step Two is a rally-ing point to sanity.

4 Right relation to Three34 Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over tothe care of God, as we understood Him. step Three is like opening of a locked door. How shall welet God into our lives? Willingness is the key. Depen-dence as a means to independence. Dangers of self-suffi-56 CONTENTS ciency. Turning our will over to Higher Power. Misuse ofwillpower. Sustained and personal exertion necessary toconform to God's will. step Four42 Made a searching and fearless moral inventory ofourselves. How instincts can exceed their proper function.

5 step Fouris an effort to discover our liabilities. Basic problem ofextremes in instinctive drives. Misguided moral inventorycan result in guilt, grandiosity, or blaming others. Assetscan be noted with liabilities. Self-justification is danger-ous. Willingness to take inventory brings light and newconfidence. step Four is beginning of lifetime symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry,anger, self-pity, and depression. Inventory reviews rela-tionships. Importance of Five55 Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another humanbeing the exact nature of our wrongs.

6 Twelve Steps deflate ego. step Five is difficult but neces-sary to sobriety and peace of mind. Confession is an an-cient discipline. Without fearless admission of defects,few could stay sober. What do we receive from StepFive? Beginning of true kinship with man and God. Losesense of isolation, receive forgiveness and give it; learnhumility; gain honesty and realism about ourselves. Ne-cessity for complete honesty. Danger of to choose the person in whom to confide. Results aretranquility and consciousness of God. Oneness with Godand man prepares us for following Six63 Were entirely ready to have God remove all thesedefects of character.

7 step Six necessary to spiritual growth. The beginning of aCONTENTS7lifetime job. Recognition of difference between strivingfor objective and perfection. Why we must keep trying. Being ready is all-important. Necessity of taking is dangerous. Rebellion may be fatal. Point atwhich we abandon limited objectives and move towardGod's will for Seven70 Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. What is humility? What can it mean to us? The avenue totrue freedom of the human spirit. Necessary aid to sur-vival. Value of ego-puncturing.

8 Failure and misery trans-formed by humility. Strength from weakness. Pain is theadmission price to new life. Self-centered fear chief acti-vator of defects. step Seven is change in attitude whichpermits us to move out of ourselves toward Eight77 Made a list of all persons we had harmed, andbecame willing to make amends to them all. This and the next two Steps are concerned with personalrelations. Learning to live with others is a fascinating ad-venture. Obstacles: reluctance to forgive; nonadmission ofwrongs to others; purposeful forgetting.

9 Necessity of ex-haustive survey of past. Deepening insight results fromthoroughness. Kinds of harm done to others. Avoiding ex-treme judgments. Taking the objective view. step Eight isthe beginning of the end of Nine83 Made direct amends to such people whereverpossible, except when to do so would injure them orothers. A tranquil mood is the first requisite for good timing is important in making amends. What iscourage? Prudence means taking calculated begin when we join Peace of mind cannot8 CONTENTSbe bought at the expense of others.

10 Need for to take consequences of our past and to take re-sponsibility for well-being of others is spirit of step Ten88 Continued to take personal inventory and when wewere wrong promptly admitted it. Can we stay sober and keep emotional balance under allconditions? Self-searching becomes a regular habit. Ad-mit, accept, and patiently correct defects. Emotional hang-over. When past is settled with, present challenges can bemet. Varieties of inventory. Anger, resentments, jealous-ly, envy, self-pity, hurt pride all led to the bottle.