[Wisconsin_Al]

Have others experienced seeing the Steps in other areas of life? I ask because I found myself in a position where I was defending the Steps to someone. I explained the way of living that a 12-step program offers.

My basic approach was to say there is nothing new to the 12-steps. These are principles laid down before by others, sometimes centuries ago, and that AA took these and structured a fellowship around them for drunks.

I explain I have not heard anything new in AA that I have not been told in the past by my parents, ministers, therapist, self help books, spiritualist, and naturalist and so on. It’s just that for me, I was only ready to listen when I came to my knees with my alcohol addiction and heard these principles around the AA table. Hearing others like me talk about what it was like, what happened, what it is like now and relate these to the Steps was enormous for me. These principles work for so many in and out of AA but for me they work best in AA.

I was recently with a therapist and was assigned “homework” (grin). She has me filling out a chart on feelings and reactions and then we dig into my responses. You know what? I realized something; she was having me do a 4th and 5th step. Exactly the same as a 4th and 5th? – No. Similar in approach and goal as the 4th and 5th? – Yes.

When it comes to the Steps I find some in AA who see these as uniquely AA while others dismiss them and that’s OK. But I see these as principles for life regardless of how you came to them.

Just my mini-share for this morning.

al