We admitted we were powerless over addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable. more or less. you're an addict and that has more to do with your life than drugs. its altered your brain chemistry. admit that. constantly.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. no god is gonna make me a normal motherfucker or as sane as the rest of them. but there's good in the world. and the will to that is fucking strong.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. i'm god then and so are you. keep your eye on your will and what it wants, because we lie to ourselves. wanna know where your will's coming from? ask if what it wants you to do makes you more alone, feel less, or saves you from shame/guilt. then do the opposite.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. yeah have fun
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. and then do it again. and keep doing it. use the shares. out loud to yourself if you have to, but this isn't about confession or absolution. dont give leave yourself any corners to hide in, and burn each one you find.
We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character do some bullshit hard nonstop work to achieve a life that most people dont have to fight as hard for. where good normal things happen, and bad normal things happen, and neither the good or bad make or break, whether you wake up to that life again tomorrow.
seriously the fuck Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. learn those shortcomings and work on them. work on them by doing the thing thats the opposite of easy. its a pretty good indicator.
Made a "list" of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. don't just start checking people off a list with apologies and letters. this is about taking serious stock, and making yourself understand the affect of your actions. remember if looking away saves you from shame, thats where you need to look
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. be ready for them to forgive you or not. no 'amend' can erase what you did. but its healing for them to see you understand the pain you caused, regardless of whatever your intentions were or how fucked your head was.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. have fun
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. i mean if it helps. meditations great but dont force it or its water torture. regular journaling is good.
therapy. go to talk therapy so its not just you and your thoughts in a vacuum in the journal. let them look at it. find a good match who you want to talk to, but isn't gonna lap up your bullshit.
also there's me. not a replacement for therapy, but their delivery will be more professional and therapu therepeau therapeutic.
Having had a spiritual awakening Having built a stable foundation and sustainable life with the continued practice of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs