By atheism, I mean an absence of belief in the supernatural. I've tried, but it just doesn't stick. That's not a 'bad' thing, though, for the simple reason that it is true in my heart. And as just about anybody in the rooms would agree, recovery boils down to the capacity to be honest with oneself.
Everywhere I go in life I encounter powers greater than myself. I would no more claim to be my own higher power than I would state "I am taller than myself". I know from experience that there is a capacity within me to grow and recover, which exists irrespective of my own will. I got clean and sober by attending AA meetings, and drawing on the humane, and utterly human warmth and support I found there. These are just a few examples.
Ironically, things have become a bit sticky for me since I decided to knuckle down. get a sponsor and work the steps. My sponsor appears to take the steps, and for that matter the (AA) big book, almost word for word. Although he would probably disagree, his opinions about atheisms are on a par with those expressed in said book. Time to get a new sponsor.
I posed my question as a request for some hope, strength and experience. I don't doubt that there are other atheists who have made the steps work. At the moment, I do actually want to work my way through them. I just figured that it might be good to hear how others have done it.