I practice the principles of the steps in my life every day.

Today my focus was on step12 - I listened to the step5 of one of my sponsees. It is an honour and privilege for me to experience this. For someone to trust me and tell me things they have not told other people is an amazing thing. I am a long way being the person I was a few years ago when no one could trust me with anything.

The best bit of it was that after my sponsee had gone home, done her review and taken steps 6 and 7, she sent me a message telling me that she felt positive and at peace. This was from a person who a couple of months ago couldnt stop drinking and didnt even know what peace was. How amazing to be able to watch the miracle of someones life changing and play a small part in that process.

It says in the BB "To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and each other is the bright spot of our lives" - pg 89

That is very much my experience and I am so grateful to be sober and able to help others to receive what was freely given to me.

Nicky, that was an inspirational posting. Thank you for posting it.

For me it is the practice of steps 10, 11 and 12 that maintains my spiritual condition and allows me to keep the daily reprieve that I have been granted from Alcoholism. I will always be an alcoholic but the thought patterns that had be incessantly obsessing about alcohol have been lifted from me by God.

Because I will always be an alcoholic, I never forget the first step as this step forms the foundation on which all the other steps are built. As we are told in the bb when we have completed the 5th step and review what we have done.

"Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. Is our work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have we skimped on the cement put into the foundation? Have we tried to make mortar without sand?"

If these first five steps are done properly and we have the foundations in place there should be no need to do these steps again. Never the less I do not forget the first step as after all thats what brought me through the doors of Alcoholics anonymous in the first place.

Iain

Gaily, nice comment about the "blind spot" i totally agree. I heard a great speaker once refer to it as "not letting the disease fly UNDER the radar."

I recently joined DS to do more of Step 12. To spread the message of hope, and live as an example of how a person CAN live obsession free! Proper care and maintenance is sooooo much easier than letting it get out of hand, struggling with the obsession, recovering from relapse, having to make new deep and painful amends constantly.... living with self-hatred.

so bringing the message to others keeps me aware that if I fall into DIS-EASE again, the obsession might return and with it many many many other difficulties, trials, and injuries!

for the newcomers:
KEEP COMING BACK IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!
it DOES get easier.... find NEW POSITIVE OBSESSIONS to enjoy instead --for me, that made all the difference. When I get restless, I hop on my dirtbike, and take out my resentments on the DIRT TRACK! I come home exhausted, but free. And I sleep with the greatest peace!

thanks for the question, gim! This is great! I'm really enjoying DS!

10-12 is a constant...when I forget to work those steps....I get into trouble.

Step 9. Make direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or other.

Today i have t the opportunity' to make a direct amends to someone that I have not seen in over 4 years, since they moved out of state. What a awesome feeling that it can be done easily without fear or reservations because of the fact I live the 12 steps on a daily basis to the best of my ability .

Today, I am addressing the 6th step, P/T patients & tolerance. I am so grateful today I can identify what's going on with my defects step back and address them. Before I came into recovery I could never identify what I was doing wrong, hell i couldn't identify what I was doing right.

To another day.

Just curious, does anyone here work or live the steps on a daily basis to the best of your ability in there recovery??

Hey G, I am still looking for the elusive sponsor to get me started on them. I have my daily card, my BB and my 'Living Sober' book which I read and that is where I am at.

I am going to different meetings now so hope to find a lady soon and then will let you all know how I go :)

Kate, nice hearing from ya. In my opinion about the sponsor deal you really do not need one for the 1st 3 steps. If you are convinced you are powerless over alcohol and you life has become unmanageable you have completed step 1. So what about step 2. Let me know.

G

hi my name is Brandon and i am an alcoholic.
i stumbled upon the ds site i guess while drinking in nov. 07 i never came back for one reason or other, mostly becuz i had forgotten all about it..i received an e-mail from Doug 2 days ago, and decided to check it out. i had joined the alcoholism group. i just recently realized that there are a couple of sub groups on the topic of alcoholism.i suppose i will join all the groups i can find. i am well oriented with A.A. and have attended many meetings 1 convention etc.
i am on step 1 again for the umpteenth time. i have completed all my steps in the past, but i obviously i did a few of them half heartedly.

Welcome Brandon, I am pleased you have joined our group. On this group we concentrate on shared experience of working the 12 Steps and offer help and support. You will not find us debating methods of recovery, we leave that for the main alcoholism group which people tend to find first.

We look forward to your input. If you scroll down to the pages at the bottom you can look back at our discussions on the Steps etc.

Thanks G, I will get my BB out and let you know.

I dont know if you have looked at my other posting but I had stopped reading it as was told too but getting back with things now. Had only been reading the 'living sober' book. But, hey, that is good too for a newcomer for sure :)

I am now back trying again and am trying a new meeting tomorrow. Apparently it is candlelit so I am very excited as seems very spiritual.

Kate, Glad to here your doing well. I have a question someone told you not to read the BB?? And are you working any step yet??

I'm still VERY much struggling with step 3. I have a sense of my HP (the wisdom of the words spoken at an AA meeting, the smell of rain and soil) but I do not have any kind of theological HP.

So it's kind of hard to turn it over to something as elusive as that.

Plus, I can't find anyone in my city (Vancouver BC) who's on here and up for going to a meeting or something.