Are You Willing To Go To Any Lengths?

A quick overview of the first three steps in the Alcoholics Anonymous program: Powerless over said addiction, believe that our higher power could relieve said addiction, made a decision to turn life and will regarding said addiction over to care of higher power.

By the way, similar AA 12-step programs have helped so many and are so successful since they employ one more ace-in-the-hole, group therapy.

This is a very powerful part of the program as it exists today, people helping people by sharing, caring, committing themselves to each other, being accountable and making friends.

The first couple of hundred people in the first AA recovery program in 1935 were amazed at the recovery rate of even the most hopeless, down-and-out alcoholics.

It's the awesome power of groups of people invoking their higher power to help them with their addictions, asking/praying for what we need to accomplish on our spiritual path.

God can't turn His back on us. We're His children! I know I'm generalizing about some pretty serious stuff but these are the principal truths of the program that work,  if we work for them.

We've all seen and heard about how our higher power even turns disaster into something from which some good comes from the depths of despair!

It's all about God saying, "I'm here if you need me." Don't discount this phase of the program. I've been to enough meetings to know there's something magical going on. There are hundreds of meetings throughout the area dealing with every kind of addiction. Are you "willing to go to any lengths"?

I'm a little older than most people, and a little more "old school" so I've never had any experience with online AA program chat rooms. I can tell you that what is shared in these meetings and chat rooms is shared confidentially, it's in the traditions of the 12-step program, which is read at the meetings.

There are AA meeting directories available and AA central office phone numbers in major cities all over the world. We met a wonderful group when we wanted to go to a meeting in Queensland, New Zealand. I can't tell you how important the meetings were in my quest to be happy and free.

You'll also discover all the literature that's available on addiction recovery when you visit meetings and program central offices, often staffed by volunteers that are fellow AA program people.

Next week we'll get into the next few steps.