Step one is merely admitting you got a problem with the booz. Once you admit that my dear, then move on to the next and in time if you allow, you go from there. It is not what the AA is preaching, it is what has worked for us and giving away what worked for us, take care
and if you have any questions feel free. :)

You don't have to "believe" all that is said at AA. Step one is that we admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable. No higher power is just going to take away an addiction. If you are not doing the footwork it just won't happen. There is no magic in AA. After you have been attending for a while, you can shorten the first three steps to I can't, He can, I'll let him.
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It's ok if you don't want to believe whatever yo hear in AA. I don't either and I don't blame you. I still take in a meeting every once in a while but I don't depend on AA. I think AA helps you deal with the mental issues of stopping drinking. If you want to know what I believe it is that our own brain is our higher power. When you ask yourself a question in the proper context your brain goes to work and continues to work until it comes up with an answer 24 hrs a day. Did you ever try to think of a name and it just isn't there? The answer always comes even if it takes a long time. By the way I don't say this to take away from God I also think there is a God out there, and this answer could go on for ever so I will stop now.

If you don't believe that you are powerless and therefore in need of a power (however you might define that) then you don't need AA do you?? You can just quit on your own willpower right?

AA doesn't preach to anyone - all it says is 'this is what we did, if you want what we have you might like to try it.' It's all up to you!

Turning our will and our life over to the care of God is not abdicating responsibility for our lives, it's simply an acknowledgement of our powerlessness - as I say, if you do not believe the first step ie that you are powerless, then you will not be willing to do any more of the programme. Step 3 says that we turned our will and life over to the CARE of God, not the responsibility!

thank you all....I do know that I am powerless over alcohol....but i do not think god will take that away, nor can i turn it over to him...I have to work my butt off to stay sober...krm, what you said really made sense...I just hope i can start AA soon and make sober friends without all their same beliefs....maybe i'll just keep quiet about what I dont believe and focus on what I do and the good.....
and sorry sponge, thats my problem...he cant, I can....he can help though........

how can ones own brain be thier higher power? Alcoholism centers in the mind so our fix is not ifn the mind but rather in our actions in AA

I personally believe we have that part of our brain that tells us drink, all the excuses....the monster, and then there is the logical voice...we have to learn to deal with "the monster" and use the logical part of us that knows better to beat it............cognative therapy stuff...retrain our brains

The programme of AA allows me the dignity to self diagnose and decide for myself whether i belong there or not. Struggled myself with step 3 for a long time. the power i have come to rely on is one of my own understanding.i've moved from i don't believe/ i won't believe/ i can't believe/ i might believe/ and so on. i don't try to understand so that can i believe; by believing it'll work i've come to understand.

If you don't beliveve what you hear, believe what you see.

cognative therapy didnt work for me but aa and the 12 steps did and seemed to be the only thing that ev er worked.

belife is based on exp atleast that is what was explained to me. My own exp when i got to aa this time was no human power of any kind could keep me permanetly sober. How do I know this from my previos 38 yrs exp of different powers tryin to make me stay sober. None worked I always ended up drunk. Near death I went back to AA and it offered me a solution called the 12 steps out lined in the BB and after living them and experiencing them my perception changed. I found the great reality deep within my heart. My spirit awakened to a brand new life where permanent sobriety was not a fantasy but could be a reality if i was willing to seek God and apply all of the principles of aa to my entire life. I became a sponsor on this journey and the steps took on a new meaning. It is no wonder to me why aa never worked before. Until I let go absolutely to all my opld ideas AA would not work. In the many many ppl men and women that i have helped the ones that dont recover are the ones like I use to be that dont do everything in the directions. I dont judge them for that I know like myself all other avenues of escape had to be exhausted and when that occured for me I had but 2 choices either keep drinking to blot out my miserable existence or accept spiritual help. like what was shared earlier the steps wont work unless i take the action completely

This is wha bothers me about AA...it our way or YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL....will now my goal is to prove you wrong....I will be doing it for myself but AA is NOT the only way to change ones life and it bothers me that some people could be so closed minded...yes I understand it was the way that worked for you, but maybe my way is different and if that is not okay with AA maybe it is not the place for me AT ALL...I am so over hearing you HAVE to believe exactly what we do inored to stay sober!!!! I can follow my own heart and beliefs and stay sober....sorry if you cant understand that....
I am not trying to attack you but it really does bother me that AA seems so close minded....it their way, all the way, no opions allowed or you are doomed to fail....I just do not agree....sorry....

Some people stop drinking before they loose "the power of choice" in their drinking and can use will-power alone to stay stopped.

Others drink so hard or so long that they loose "the power of choice" in their drinking and MUST find a higher-power to help them stay stopped drinking.

If you can stay stopped for 3 months or more using will-power alone you may not need any outside support at all.

If you find it impossible to stay stopped, then you need some kind of higher-power.

Ashley, I didnt read anything on this thread that said AA is the only way. I havent met many people in AA who believe it is the only way to change your life or that everyone who has a drinking problem needs to go to AA.

If you can do it another way thats great, why would you go to AA if you have another way that works. I wouldnt go there if any of the methods I had previously tried had worked.

Sadly, people sharing the mistakes they made and the things that worked for them seems to be interpreted very defensively by many as you must do it this way.

You can do it any way you like. I tend to share my experiences of things not working and AA working because that is what happened for me. These posts are mostly in repsonse to people saying that what they are currently doing isnt working.

If it is working keep doing it. if you dont need AA dont go there. But for those that are trying to stop drinking and are not able to do it the way they are currently trying maybe AA is the answer.

I didnt mean to totally knock AA....I know it kind of sounded that way but all I was trying to get as was, If I dont completely believe in all the step, will i still be accepted into AA?....I know that I can not do this alone, I have to have support....and would like to put more into AA but I can not stop believing in what is in my heart........I want to go to meetings, but am afraid that because I want to do it my way, that that will not be okay.....
I dont know I am confused and again never ment it to be an attack on anyone or on AA....I have been around it my whole life and know that it is a great program....just dont know if I will fit in with my beliefs?

The program of AA is in the book Alcolics Anonymous. What people share about in meetings doesn't always spread the message of AA as it is intended. The thing with the steps, is to focus only on the one you're on.

I bet if you read the book you would find yourself more in agreement with the principles.

http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/

We need to let go absolutely. Surrender is a main thing in recovery - surrender to God as we understand God.

The thing with step one is we're not surrendering yet. We're seeing how we're powerless over alcohol, and how our lives are unmanageable, period.

Step 2 is coming to believe a higher power can restore us to sanity. We don't turn our will over until Step 3.