toqa

just curious. would be thankful for any one who would share.

hope all are good and also sober tonight.

DayTrader

I did and continue to re-do AA's 12 steps.

last drink was 4/28/07

oak

In 2001, I worked the first 9 steps with a sponsor. I read from the Big Book and talked to my sponsor about each step. I remember writing a lot for the 4th and 8th steps. I don't think I wrote anything for the other steps. Although I did not technically work through steps 10-12, I felt like I was living from these steps.

I also attended meetings for SMART, WFS & LifeRing. No step work, although I used some of the written SMART worksheets and followed some of the WFS program.

Currently, I have a new sponsor and we are slowly working through the book, Buddhism and the Twelve Steps Workbook by Kevin Griffin. I'm not actually still going to 12-step groups, but my sponsor was willing to keep working with me.

I am currently going to Refuge Recovery meetings and Heart of Recovery meetings. They are both Buddhist approaches to recovery. Refuge Recovery does not use the 12 steps. They have their own worksheets that people fill out as they work on recovery.
INVENTORY WORKSHEETS |

Gottalife

I worked steps 1-9 once with a sponsor, and I go through them again each time I work with a newcomer. I live steps 10 and 11 on a daily basis as this is the AA 24 hour plan, and I practice step 12 at every opportunity.

Sober since 10 Feb 1980.

totfit

Stepped away from the bar stool and did not step back. Quickened my steps and started running. Stepped up to salad bars and healthy eating. Stepped away from simple carbs and sugars.

IOAA2

Hi
I started working the steps in early ’79 and continue working them each day to the best of my ability.
It’s really that simple, after awhile it became part of my life like breathing.

BE WELL

tomsteve

Ditto, only '05 for me.

countrygirl2014

I'm working on step 4. I'm trying to find a sponsor which has been a project out here in the middle of no where. I'm going to need another human for step 5. I'm reaching out, I even tell the potential that the part where I am a complete head case is over, I just need someone to do the steps with me.

Jennifer

FeelingGreat

I didn't get involved in a step program, but I would have done if my motivation had begun to falter.

paulokes

As simply as possible, I spent a weeks or so just talking with my sponsor on the way to meetings and such and he asked me to read certain sections of the book. Step 1 was already done, it was just a case of clarifying my understanding of the problem and the solution, and making a commitment to move forwards.

We started meeting to read through relevant parts of the BB and attended BB study groups together, and used a "Back to Basics" format he had...four sets of sheets that took about an hour to read through. We read the third step prayer together and he asked me to move on and start an inventory.

I spent quite a few weeks writing my first inventory...was hard for me and I needed time to process it, make sure I had everything down that I wanted to. We met at the end of this and talked it through, and talked through the 7th 8th and 9th steps.

This marked a real shift in the emphasis for me...before it had been a bit of an intellectual exercise, talking and trying to understand...when 7 8 and 9 came up it got very real, I was preparing to go and and talk to people I hadn't seen for years. Some of ttem I wasn't ready to see yet. Becoming ready to see them really felt like an active process though a quiet internal one. Making contact and planning amends really was an action.

We met again to go through the 10-12 steps in the book and with the sheets but things became a little less formal then and this is the way it has been whenever I have taken someone through the steps.

I would definitely say there was a shift for me as I worked through the process...in the beginning it was like a test that I didn't understand, a head thing that I wanted to get "right"...ever since it has been an ongoing process...constant learning and adapting the way I lead my life, decisions I make and actions I take.

I have used other worksheets from time to time...for myself, to clarify particular issues, or for other people if they have asked to use a particular format...or write a 'life story' etc. I usually say "that's not how I did this, but I'll help you out and try to guide you if that's what you want".

Taking the steps is Action...physical, mental and emotional. It means doing things that go against my instincts, exercising my heart muscle. No format or set of sheets will ever replace the real work for me but sometimes they are a useful guideline IMO.

I like to use the Big Book, because it works, it's the closest thing we have to the original process, and because it helps if we folks in AA have a common experience to talk about, and a common language to describe it with...IMO

P

LBrain

I did a step 1 worksheet. It convinced me that I need to stay stopped.
I empowered myself to stay stopped. I took my will back.

freshstart57

Not sure how many steps I did, maybe four?

1. I accepted I my drinking was over and done with. It really was a relief to decide I didn't have to do this anymore.
   
2. I learned how to recognize thoughts of drinking again for what they were in a mindful way, giving me the choice to act on them or not.
   
3. I separated my 'self' from these thoughts, from what I had decided to be, who I decided I will always be.
   
4. I said yes to new opportunities to learn and grow and change.

toqa

thanks all. I have done the steps too but am looking for a new way. back to basics sounds interesting an other mentions here.

tomsteve

Good on ya!!
Not sure iffen you've done it, but may want to pray for a sponsor to be put in your path.

countrygirl2014

Shoot you are right.

Jennifer

greens

I worked the steps a couple of times . AA, AL anon, relationship with food and body dysmorphia , relationships with other people......doing an inventory ariund my body image issues was pretty revolutionary for me I think that's the one I got the most out of , plus I got to really learn about making a mends to myself

Gottalife

At thirty something years sober, I found back to basics very interesting in improving not only my understanding of the steps but also as a teaching method. In living this program, we are never quite "done" with the steps.

Today I live in 10, 11 and twelve, which means in short, that I clean up any new mistakes as I go along, I seek guidance and inspiration from the power of my understanding on a regular basis, and I work with others, sponsoring, running steps workshops, attending meetings, getting involved in my home group, doing whatever I can to carry this meassage, and finally I try and practice these principles in all my affairs.

The best way I know of learning the steps is to try and explain them to someone else. And this is the most rewarding part of AA life.

DayTrader

there's a 12-step section here for alcoholics and another for drug addicts. good stuff available there.