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Chapter 5 -
How it Works Page 2 [Page 59]
The Twelve Steps
1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our
lives had become unmanageable.
2.Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity.
3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to
the care of God as we understood Him.
4.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of
ourselves.
5.Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human
being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these
defects of character.
7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became
willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were
wrong promptly admitted it.
11.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. [Page 59]
12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of
these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics
and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Chapter 5 then continues....
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through
with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been
able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these
principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are
willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we
have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual
progress rather than spiritual perfection.
Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the
agnostic, and our personal adventure before and after make
clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own
lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our
alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we
decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we
understood Him
END OF CHAPTER 5 READING
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The Twelve Traditions
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1.
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Our common
welfare should come first; personal recovery
depends upon A.A. unity. |
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2.
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For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate authority - a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group
conscience. Our leaders are but trusted
servants; they do not govern. |
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3.
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The only requirement for
A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
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4.
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Each group should be
autonomous except in matters affecting other
groups or A.A. as a whole. |
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5.
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Each group has but one
primary purpose-to carry its message to the
alcoholic who still suffers. |
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6.
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An A.A. group ought never
endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any
related facility or outside enterprise, lest
problems of money, property and prestige divert
us from our primary purpose. |
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7.
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Every A.A. group ought to
be fully self-supporting, declining outside
contributions. |
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8.
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Alcoholics Anonymous
should remain forever nonprofessional, but our
service centers may employ special workers. |
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9.
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A.A., as such, ought never
be organized; but we may create service boards
or committees directly responsible to those they
serve.
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10.
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Alcoholics Anonymous has
no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A.
name ought never be drawn into public
controversy. |
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11.
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Our public relations
policy is based on attraction rather than
promotion; we need always maintain personal
anonymity at the level of press, radio and
films. |
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12.
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Anonymity is the spiritual
foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding
us to place principles before personalities.
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