great thread! Thanks Blake. I really enjoy reading what goes on in your mind. It's quite thought provoking.
I'm trying to rationalize the 2nd step myself and I don't subscribe to any religion. Whatever it is, it allows me to be able to reach depths within myself that I didn't know I could reach.
For example, I'm able to find the courage to call someone when I'm flipping out wanting a drink. I find the determination to leave the house or write in a journal or type here when there is liquor in my face (or my head) making me crazy. I find the clear mindedness to make a decision about something difficult or to think about something else when bad thoughts enter my brain.
I don't think about something or someone acting on my behalf. I think of myself using previously closed off spaces of my own being. The difference now is that those locked places have been unlocked somehow. I suppose you could say that the "power" that unlocked these places is the knowledge of the effects of alcohol on my body. This knowledge has driven me to make decisions that I wouldn't have made, take actions that I wouldn't have taken, and change the way I think about things.