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The following is an excerpt from "44 Questions" Copyright © 1952
The "Twelve Steps" are the core of
the A.A. program of personal recovery from alcoholism. They are not abstract
theories; they are based on the trial-and-error experience of early members
of A.A. They describe the attitudes and activities that these early members
believe were important in helping them to achieve sobriety. Acceptance of
the "Twelve Steps" is not mandatory in any sense. Experience suggests, however, that members who make an earnest
effort to follow these Steps and to apply them in daily living seem to get
far more out of A.A. than do those members who seem to regard the Steps casually.
It has been said that it is virtually impossible to follow all the Steps literally,
day in and day out. While this may be true, in the sense that the Twelve Steps
represent an approach to living that is totally new for most alcoholics, many
A.A. members feel that the Steps are a practical necessity if they are to
maintain their sobriety. Here is the text of the Twelve Steps, which first appeared
in Alcoholics Anonymous, the A.A. book of experience: The 12 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 short-comings. 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. 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.
The "Twelve Traditions" of A.A. are
suggested principles to insure the survival and growth of the thousands of
groups that make up the Fellowship. They are based on the experience of the
groups themselves during the critical early years of the movement. The Traditions are important to both oldtimers and newcomers
as reminders of the true foundations of A.A. as a society of men and women
whose primary concern is to maintain their own sobriety and help others to
achieve sobriety: The 12 Traditions
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery
depends upon A.A. unity. 2. 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. 3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to
stop drinking. 4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting
other groups or A.A. as a whole. 5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its
message to the alcoholic who still suffers. 6. 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. 7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining
outside contributions. 8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional,
but our service centers may employ special workers. 9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create
service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues;
hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy. 11. 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. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions,
ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. |
