9 Steps to Recycling

[recycle]

1) I admit I will never be able to indulge in mood altering substances in a harmless way. I admit I have damaged myself and those around me with drugs and alcohol. (1)

2) I believe there is a solution that will allow me to be comfortable with sobriety, and that solution will require a radical transformation in me. (2)

3) I relinquish my will to control others and circumstance - To struggle against this moment is to struggle against the entire universe. (3)

4) I will make a fearless and thorough moral inventory, and I admit the truth of these character defects. (4 & 5)

5) I am willing to relinquish my character defects, and accept those changes as they occur. (6 & 7)

6) I will do my best to make amends for the damage I have caused in an honest and humble way. (8 & 9)

7) My transformation is ongoing and I commit to it by continuing to take inventory, and humbly admiting my errors. (10)

8) I continue seek the wisdom to promote personal equanimity and to do no harm. (11)

9) My most persistent and urgent questions is: What am I doing for others? (12)

That’s it. That is my understanding of the twelve steps as I am in this moment. Feel free to comment, praise, denigrate, bent, fold, staple, or spindle them as you will. I relinquish any need to defend them. I have not resonated with other secular remixes I have read, and my only motive in posting this is to share my current understanding. Obviously, they are derivative of the 12 steps. My hope was that they could stand on their own merit without damaging the original or excluding the secular. (And besides everyone knows god likes 9 more than 12 )

[GodsHolyWill]

I like it! Thank you for sharing!!

[JerryT]

I too like these a whole lot. Some of them remind me of the 16 steps of empowerment used in the Red Road meetings of Native Americans.

Combining steps that are almost always taken as groups is an excellent idea.

The whole question of powerlessness is too easily turned oxymoronic by any serious thought about AA. I am, for instance, not powerless over alcohol. I'm only powerless over it when I consume it. Your third step does an excellent job of defining powerlessness in a way that circumvents the "you miserable wretch" interpretation so common in some circles of AA.

[Beardo]

Love it! Thanks

[damselfly]

I like it. :-) I am in the process of re-writing the steps (only for myself) in a way that will make sense to me. So far:

1. I know that I cannot drink alcohol without experiencing negative consequences.

OK, that's as far as I've gotten, but since I only have one week sober since my last relapse, I think I'll just focus on this for a while. And then perhaps more will be revealed. ;-)

[luckedog]

Good start!!

[recycle]

I think that writing the steps for yourself is a really good practice if you going to approach AA from a secular point of view. You are changing 'the program' to your program, it is difficult to really get what the steps are talking about. Good luck damselfly, you can do this.