bradly22

Has anyone tried making up their own twelve steps? I saw a great video on youtube that suggested doing such a thing. I wish someone had suggested to me when I was early off the booze. It just struck me as such a refreshing idea.

Andante

Sure! Only I was able to whittle it down to two:

#1. Want to stay sober more than I want to get drunk.

#2. Go to any lengths and make any changes necessary to make sure that #1 always stays true.

fini

if you go to the "secular 12 steps" forum farther down, you can find quite a variety.

Berrybean

Making your own recovery plan is mentioned here all the time.

DG0409

I've never tried to make my recovery plan fit 12 items. But I've certainly borrowed bits and pieces from different plans.

I think there's some great stuff in the 12 steps, but to me they lack practical suggestions for early recovery- dealing with cravings, eating enough healthy balanced food and not letting oneself get too hungry since low blood sugar can cause awful mood swings and cravings early on, getting exercise, etc.

I've never worked the 12 steps exactly, but I realize that I've done stuff that could be considered variations of most if not all of them.

I think making your own recovery plan is a wonderful thing to do.

Part of what I do is going to aa meetings, but I'm not real die-hard about it. If I lived someplace with other support groups for recovery I would try those meetings too.

SR is also an important part of my recovery and I relied on it solely for my first year and a half sober. Which brings up another point- being willing to modify your recovery plan and keeping an open mind about trying different things.

bullmas

No not that I can remember,However I have fell down a few staircases before.

Cheers

Recovery999

No, because it's pretty obvious at this point that my brain is not very good at coming up with ideas that are healthy for me.

Fly N Buy

Reminds me of reading the 12 steps in reverse; warning sarcastic alert!

1. I declare my complete control over alcohol and everything else; and further declare that my life is in perfect order

2. I recognize no power as great as I am; nor any person as smart as I am, and if you don't like it come outside

3. I made a decision to run my life and everyone else's life to suit only me - and I pity those who get in my way.

4. I make a searching and through inventory of everyone other than myself - and find them woefully lacking in all respects; and I never hesitate to tell them so.

5. I admitted to no one, including, God and Myself, that there could possibly be anything wrong with me, or my actions.

6. I went to extreme efforts to protect and increase my defects of character-and did a little drinking besides.

7. I continued my obnoxious arrogant air of asking no one for anything-my Big Eye was for telling, not asking.

8. I kept a complete list of all persons who had harmed me, either real or imaginary, and swore to get even with them all.

9. I got even where possible, except when to do so might injure me.

10. I continued to bitch and whine about everything to everyone and, when I was right, promptly reminded them.

11. I sought through scheming and conniving to materially improve myself - at the expense of my fellow man. I ever hesitate, when the opportunity presents itself, to bring disaster and misery to anyone who happens to cross my path.

12. Having had a complete moral, physical, financial and spiritual breakdown, all of my remaining effort was directed toward dragging those near me - and dear to me - down to these same depths of despair; And I did a little drinking too.

Gottalife

Me too. Being one of the stupidest people ever to come to AA, I was not in a positioneven to understand the exisitng and highly effective program, much less improve on it.

Nothing wrong with writing your own program however. In fact I would recommend it. Trying every imaginable remedy seems to be a useful thing on the path to recovery.