Thursday, January 29, 2009

The 'Work-In" - Today's Number is 12

Brought to you by Ed Negron, a former drug user, turned gangbanger, turned drug dealer, turned own best customer, turned addict, turned recovering addict (still there), turned activist, turned business manager, turned student, turned Substance Abuse Counselor, turned better and happier person, turned someone who can love and be loved (Love you Patrick), turned blogger. Check out Ed's own blog here.

Featured Every Thursday [USUALLY] on LifeLube --- check out all of Ed's "Work-In's" here.


The 12 Steps: A historic and analytic explanation

I received this series from someone a while ago. It breaks the 12 Steps down in a totally different way then how we are used to hearing it. I know the 12 Step programs are not for everyone, although they do work for millions of people. Some people say that applying the 12 Steps to other aspects of their life, not just addiction issues, has helped them to change their life. I am not here to sell the program to you. I just thought I would share this series that I enjoyed. Happy Reading!

The 12 steps make up the defining recovery process of those belonging to Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). Bill Wilson and Bob Smith first developed them. Together Wilson and Smith developed a program to help alcoholics recover. This included working the 12 steps, and then later assisting other recovering alcoholics to practice the 12 steps.

Since writing the 12 steps in the A.A. “Big Book,” as it is termed, the steps have been somewhat adapted to recovery of other forms of addiction. Narcotics Anonymous uses 12 steps almost identical to A.A. Others may use a modified 12 steps program to recover from gambling, sexual addiction, or to quit smoking.




The 12 steps must initially be worked step by step. The first step is admitting one has a problem and recognizing that one is powerless to fix that problem. The second step is believing that a higher power could help restore one to sanity. Next the alcoholic turns the problem over to the higher power in Step 3.

A higher power does not have to mean God. The phrase is a higher power, as we “understand it.” Thus many atheists and agnostics are able to work the 12 steps without having to embrace a form of organized religion. How much the higher power is a religious figure depends very much on each individual A.A. group.

Some groups are very religious, and may end an A.A. meeting by saying the “Our Father.” Other groups forgo this. Almost all A.A. meetings end with people holding hands together, and at least observing their fellowship as a group. The group itself can be the higher power.

Step 4 is a difficult one, where one takes a moral inventory of oneself. This means recognizing faults, behaviors, and patterns that lead one to drink. A sponsor usually guides this step.

Step 5 takes the moral inventory further. One must acknowledge and admit one’s faults, confess them to a higher power, and also to a person. Usually the sponsor acts as a confessor in this case.

Step 6 is a statement of readiness to a higher power, and to perhaps a sponsor. One recognizes again, as in Step 2, that a higher power can remove one’s faults. Step 7 then asks the alcoholic to “humbly” ask the higher power to remove faults.

In the 12 steps, 8 and 9 are active steps. One acknowledges wrongs one has committed to others and asks their pardon. Step 9 specifically calls for restitution to be made, where possible, to those one has harmed.

Steps 10 and 11 continue the process of moral inventory and of closer connection to a higher power. Step 12 is another very active step in which one commits to helping other alcoholics.

People in A.A. continue to work the 12 steps, perhaps for a lifetime. Some find they have sufficiently recovered to only attend meetings occasionally. Others find they need regular meeting attendance to remain committed to recovery. Additional study groups may be offered on each of the steps. There are also books that elucidate each step in further detail, which may direct study groups.

Working the 12 steps is an intensive and committed process. It has been found effective however, and many people owe their recovery from active alcoholism to working the 12 steps and to the philosophy and support of A.A.

To read daily motivations visit my blog at thework-in.blogspot.com or to receive daily motivations via email join our Google group Back To The Basics Please .

(Usual disclaimer applies: The suggestions on this blog are just that “SUGGESTIONS.” My words cannot heal your pain and or addictions. Nor can I change your life. Only you can.)

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- President Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States of America 2009

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

select key words

2007 National HIV Prevention Conference 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit 2011 LGBTI Health Summit 2012 Gay Men's Health Summit 2012 International AIDS Conference ACT Up AIDS AIDS Foundation of Chicago Africa BUTT Bisexual Bisexual Health Summit Brian Mustanski Center on Halsted Charles Stephens Chicago Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Use and Abuse Chris Bartlett Coaching with Jake Congress David Halperin David Munar Dr. James Holsinger Dr. Jesus Ramirez-Valles Dr. Rafael Diaz Dr. Ron Stall ENDA Ed Negron Eric Rofes FTM Feast of Fun Feel the love... Friday is for Faeries Gay Men's Health Summit 2010 HCV HIV HIV care HIV drugs HIV negative HIV positive HIV prevention HIV stigma HIV strategic plan HIV testing HIV/AIDS HPV Howard Brown Health Center IML IRMA Illinois International AIDS Conference Jim Pickett LGBT LGBT adoption LGBT culture LGBT health LGBT rights LGBT seniors LGBT youth LGBTI community LGBTI culture LGBTI health LGBTI rights LGBTI spirituality LGV Leon Liberman LifeLube LifeLube forum LifeLube poll LifeLube subscription Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano Lymphogranuloma Venereum MRSA MSM Monday Morning Perk-Up National AIDS Strategy National Gay Men's Health Summit One Fey's Tale Peter Pointers Pistol Pete PnP PrEP President Barack Obama Presidential Campaign Project CRYSP Radical Faerie STD Senator Barack Obama Sister Glo Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Susan Kingston Swiss declaration Ted Kerr Test Positive Aware Network The "Work-In" The 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda Tony Valenzuela Trans Gynecology Access Program Trans and Intersex Association Trevor Hoppe Who's That Queer Woof Wednesday You Tube abstinence only activism advocacy african-american aging issues anal cancer anal carcinoma anal health anal sex andrew's anus athlete ball scene bareback porn barebacking bathhouses bears big bold and beautiful bisexuality black gay men black msm blood ban blood donor body image bottom chubby chaser circumcision civil rights civil union communication community organizing condoms crystal meth dating dating and mating with alan irgang depression disclosure discrimination domestic violence don't ask don't tell douche downlow drag queen emotional health exercise female condom fitness gay culture gay identity gay latino gay male sex gay marriage gay men gay men of color gay men's health gay pride gay rights gay rugby gay sex gay youth gender harm reduction hate crime health care health care reform health insurance hepatitis C hiv vaccine homophobia homosexuality hottie hotties how are you healthy? human rights humor hunk immigration international mr. leather internet intimacy leather community leathersex lifelube survey love lube lubricant masturbation mental health microbicides middle music negotiated safety nutrition oral sex physical health pleasure podcast policy politics poppers porn post-exposure prophylaxis prevention prostate prostate cancer public health public sex venues queer identity racism recovery rectal microbicides relationships religion research safe sex semen sero-adaptation sero-sorting seroguessing sex sexual abuse sexual addiction sexual health sexual orientation smoking social marketing spirituality stigma stonewall riots substance abuse treatment substance use suicide super-bug superinfection syphilis testicle self-examination testicular cancer testing top trans group blog transgender transgender day of remembrance transgendered transmen transphobia transsexual universal health care unsafe sex vaccines video violence viral load writers yoga youtube