When did you start.....

[Josiol]

working the 12 steps? How far in recovery were you?

I started on my first step about 2 weeks after I stopped drinking (while in treatment). We had to do it as it was part of the program. It's been 2 months now and I think it's way past time I start working on step 2 (I keep procrastinating). I just got done printing out worksheets for all 12 steps, got myself a big notebook and I'm ready to roll

[Phinneas]

Hey, Josiol. I started really working the steps when I got a sponsor. She took me through them at the pace she thought I was ready for. That's the role of a sponsor - to take us through the steps. They are not meant to be worked alone.

Do you have a sponsor? If not, I strongly recommend that you get one soon. Look for someone with good quality and quantity sobriety, of the same sex, and whom you'd like to be like.

Congrats on your sober time!

[miss communicat]

Hi Josiol

I started the 12 steps immediately but stayed on 1-2-3 for about 6 months. Then I got a sponsor and did a formal 4+5. I'm living with 6+7 daily right now over a behaviour I find unhealthy, and do 10 nightly. 11 is a daily practice and 12 is up for review for me right now.

[REZ]

I started working them the minute that I went to a meeting and introduced myself as an alcoholic, and took the suggestion to not drink today. I started working them formally when I got a sponsor (in a couple of weeks).

[c'est la vie]

I've been sober 2 months and I'm just fully absorbing steps 1,2,3 right now. I started right away with step 1 by writing all the things that were in my head with regards to drinking. I unloaded page after page after page, then I put it in coherent order like a story. I don't think it's ever too early to do that much, but it's a good idea to get a sponsor to help guide you as soon as you find someone compatible.

[Josiol]

I definitely need to get a sponsor. I've asked two people so far and they both said they are at their limit with sponsee's right now It's getting a little discouraging being turned down.

[c'est la vie]

When I asked my sponsor to be my temp sponsor I told her I felt like I was asking for her hand in marriage LOL. I hate that. I'm sad to hear that you're having trouble finding someone with the time to help you. I can understand your discouragement.

[Little Missy]

You and a sponsor will find each other. It seems to happen in HP's time. I don't see any problem with starting the steps. You can always ask about them at a meeting and also mention there that you are looking for a sponsor. I had started the steps, then started them over when I got a sponsor. That way she understood me from the very beginning.

I hear alot that the 1st step is the only one that we can do 100%. Either you are or you are not an alcoholic. Either your life is, or is not unmanagable. Really need to have a firm grasp on the first step. It is the foundation of recovery!!

[Sugah]

Though I went through it in a formal way with my sponsor, whom I've had since two days out of rehab, I took the first step before ever entering the rooms.

If I thought there was any way that I could control my drinking and using, if I thought that there was any means of managing the mess I'd made of my life, I would have kept on drinking and using. That's not a requirement for membership, thankfully -- just a desire is a good enough start.

My sponsor has said, and I've come to believe, that before we're even finished "working" as step, we've taken it. We put the steps to work in our daily lives, but the actual "taking" of the step is the transformer. That's where we realize the psychic change, gain the spiritual awakening.

I like what Little Missy says: either you are or you are not an alcoholic. Either your life is, or is not unmanageable. Work on that with your sponsor (good vibes going to you that you find one soon), but take it anytime. Now is good!

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[Shakur]

Hi,

I am five months sober. I am currently writing Step 4. I differentiate between working the Step, and formally writing it and reviewing it with my sponsor. Just because I am not formally writing a step does not mean that I cannot seek to work and live it. I have formally done Steps 1,2 and 3 with my current sponsor, though he was not my first sponsor. My first sponsor I parted ways with after it became clear his commitment to sponsorship was largely superficial (he wanted a sponsee, but he didn't want to put in the effort to work with one, or answer the phone). I "fired" him, as they say, though we went back to being friends after the initial "break-up" was over. I wrote the First Step somewhere around 2 months into recovery.

The AA program is pretty much 5 slogans, 12 Steps, and the first 164 pages of the Big Book, or so I have heard. It is very simple, but takes work.

Just keep showing up, putting one foot in front of the other, and you will find a sponsor, and all will be well.

Be Well,
Joe

[Peter]

When did you start.....working the 12 steps? How far in recovery were you?

After about 9 months in the programme I had determined that the only Step I really needed to work was the first half of Step 1.

"I admitted I was Powerless over alcohol......."

The remaining 11 1/2 was for the rest of ya'll........needless to say I relapsed shortly thereafter.....that was 9 years ago and I am still sober today with no desire to drink.

Congrats on your decision to Work The Steps.

Working The Steps was the kindest thing I ever did for myself and from the day I put pen to paper I began to develop a better understanding of self and the inner workings of what was driving me to drink.

I believe that as long as I follow AA's path of recovery I won't relapse.

[2dayzmuse]

When I first started attending AA, I only attended meetings in fellowship only, I relapsed. I returned to the rooms telling myself I would do it right and got a sponsor. I did, but never called her, I relapsed again. That is when I really got serious. I realized how powerful alcoholism is and I was determined to not fall victim to it again.

I got a sponsor and as soon as my mind started to clear from the fog, we started reading the BB together. It took a few days for my mind to be able to retain what I was reading. I had really put my brain in a haze. After that, we started working the steps. I went through the entire process in about 3 months. I referred to it as AA boot camp.

I'm not suggesting that is the best way to approach the steps. It was difficult and I felt very overwhelmed at times. My sponsor was very hard core. However, I don't regret it and I'm glad I did it. I knew I needed some one like that to keep me on task. I can be very stubborn and hard headed at times. I also can be very manipulative. I need a strong personality to keep me in line and on top of things. I think it is important to keep you personal characteristics in mind when choosing a sponsor.

I do think the steps are extremely important. There must be a happy medium some where. When we balk, our sponsor are there to give us a nudge to move us forward. I feel working the steps is what made the difference between me being drunk and sober.

[collinsmi]

I got a sponsor and started working steps 3 months after my last drink. That was the beginning of my recovery.