steps?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 32
steps?
Hi; i;m new to sobriety/recovery and the board. I haven;t been to a step meeting yet; but plan to; can someone tell me a little more about them; how to work them and how you start one step and proceed? This is all very new to me and I appreciate the help and support I am receiving both from here and my meetings.
kate
kate
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: des moines ia
Posts: 362
Mornin, I guess I'm not sure what your asking. A step meeting is simply a chance to learn more about the steps. There is no action taken at the meeting. Most will go through the steps 1-12 in order, with a specific step talked about each succeeding week. As far as actually working the steps, this is where a sponser really comes in handy. I suppose if you have a big book you can do it yourself, but having someone to guide and encourage you makes a BIG difference. If this doesn't answer your questions pop back up and I'll try again.
Ron
Ron
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by meangirl66 
... can someone tell me a little more about them; how to work them and how you start one step and proceed?
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
I guess I'm kinda confused about the question, too.
The AA program is (or at least, should be) centered around working the Steps. The best way is to get a sponsor to guide you. Good AA meetings focus on the Steps in one way or another--through the message of the speaker in a speaker meeting or the sharings in a discussion meeting.
AA "step meetings" are a particular format of AA meetings, which usually focus on one of the Steps at a time. Often the first week would be focused on Step One, then the succeeding weeks would be on Step Two, then Step Three, and so on until it starts over with Step One. The one I used to go to (haven't been in awhile) had people take turns reading the readings from the "12 & 12" ("Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions") and then discussing the particular Step that was the topic of the meeting.
Most people with long-term sobriety recommend working the Steps as they are laid out in the Big Book, which is basically an instruction manual. The "12 & 12" is more in the nature of commentary on the Steps, and how they can be worked in everyday life on a day to day basis.
Hope that helps.
The AA program is (or at least, should be) centered around working the Steps. The best way is to get a sponsor to guide you. Good AA meetings focus on the Steps in one way or another--through the message of the speaker in a speaker meeting or the sharings in a discussion meeting.
AA "step meetings" are a particular format of AA meetings, which usually focus on one of the Steps at a time. Often the first week would be focused on Step One, then the succeeding weeks would be on Step Two, then Step Three, and so on until it starts over with Step One. The one I used to go to (haven't been in awhile) had people take turns reading the readings from the "12 & 12" ("Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions") and then discussing the particular Step that was the topic of the meeting.
Most people with long-term sobriety recommend working the Steps as they are laid out in the Big Book, which is basically an instruction manual. The "12 & 12" is more in the nature of commentary on the Steps, and how they can be worked in everyday life on a day to day basis.
Hope that helps.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Glad to see you again....
I strongly suggest you go to a Step meeting
most of them are beginning on Step 1
because it's Janurary.
It's also a good place to find a sponsor.
All my best as you move into recovery
I strongly suggest you go to a Step meeting
most of them are beginning on Step 1
because it's Janurary.
It's also a good place to find a sponsor.
All my best as you move into recovery
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 581
The steps are the program of recovery that is AA. Fellowship, service, and other aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous are supportive; the steps are the essential program of action that can produce recovery.
The steps should be taken with an experienced, knowledgeable sponsor, from the Big Book, with the 12 step book as support.
The steps are what separates those who simply "don't drink and go to meetings" from those who seek relief from the spiritual malady that underlies their chronic drinking. The steps are a course of action that produces a psychic change-- through an admission and understanding of powerlessness, willingness to at least believe in a greater power, and then moral inventory (a deep dive into your resentments and fears, and understanding how they drive your alcoholism), sharing it with another person, asking the higher power of your understanding to relieve you of your defects of character, and then making amends to those you have harmed in your life. Once this is completed, we use steps 10-12 as a guide for daily living, to enlarge our spiritual life through daily inventory, amends, prayer/meditation, and helping others.
The idea of the steps is to remove obstacles between you and a power greater than yourself of your conception.
How does this relate to alcoholism? The big book of AA, which is our text book, states explicitly that the alcoholic cannot stop drinking unless they have a vital spiritual experience sufficient to relieve them of the insanity that keeps returning them to the destructive behavior.
Hope that helps.
The steps should be taken with an experienced, knowledgeable sponsor, from the Big Book, with the 12 step book as support.
The steps are what separates those who simply "don't drink and go to meetings" from those who seek relief from the spiritual malady that underlies their chronic drinking. The steps are a course of action that produces a psychic change-- through an admission and understanding of powerlessness, willingness to at least believe in a greater power, and then moral inventory (a deep dive into your resentments and fears, and understanding how they drive your alcoholism), sharing it with another person, asking the higher power of your understanding to relieve you of your defects of character, and then making amends to those you have harmed in your life. Once this is completed, we use steps 10-12 as a guide for daily living, to enlarge our spiritual life through daily inventory, amends, prayer/meditation, and helping others.
The idea of the steps is to remove obstacles between you and a power greater than yourself of your conception.
How does this relate to alcoholism? The big book of AA, which is our text book, states explicitly that the alcoholic cannot stop drinking unless they have a vital spiritual experience sufficient to relieve them of the insanity that keeps returning them to the destructive behavior.
Hope that helps.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
