i am ready

marks girl · Newbie

i am ready

Philip · Newbie

Congratulations, Barb !

It takes a courageous soul to ask this question, but working the steps is very rewarding and well worth the effort. There are many ways to work the steps. Here are some ways I have found helpful. Other people will have other ideas.

1) Take each step one at a time. Spend a while on each one - maybe a week, maybe a month. It's up to you and your Higher Power.

2) Spend somes time writing about the step you are working on. You may write on more than one occasion on the same step. On step 1, you may wish to list the things that you are powerless over - especially (for right now) the things that have brought you to ACA.

3) Find a workbook on working the steps. Friends in Recovery is an "author" that has produced some good ones. These will provide much gentle, loving and wise guidance in how to work the steps in an ACA manner (not harsh and condemning). Can be found at amazon.com, etc.

4) Get a sponsor to help you through it. You can be very picky here. Get someone you really trust and feel comfortable with, whose type of sharing you admire and whose recovery you admire. You can always ask someone to be a temporary sponsor and change later if you desire.

Hope that helps. The steps sure will.

Congratulations again on your recovery efforts.

Peace

Philip

dot · Senior Member

Hi Barb - Welcome to the Step board.

We are on Step Nine for the next two weeks but you can search Step One and read info and shares that can get you started.

Glad to have you with us.
Love - Dot

Vicky R · Senior Member

hi Barb welcome to the board , I think Philip has made a good list here which I don't need to add to . Hope you find it helpful here . Just a note to everyone again I'm here as an Alanon member so if I haven't answered AA shares it's because I'm not a member of that and I don't know much about it , hope that's OK ,

llol Vickyr x

imagine · Newbie

Hi everyone. Is this Al-anon or AA? Or ACA? I'm here because I've been "up to my elbows" in alcoholics. (a phrase I recently read and liked) I never attended al-anon, while married to a raging alcoholic for 30 years, because I thought Al-Anon people would try to tell me how I hindered the alcoholic or they would try to put a guilt trip on me. Basically, I was tired of it always being about his drinking! I thought I had managed his drinking ok, but didn't handle the addictions of our two teenagers very well.

Then a crisis came. I knew the only people on the planet that could understand how it was that I was unable to meet this crisis is in a graceful way would be at Al-Anon.

I've been helped a lot by listening to other's share their "strength, experience and hope" and reading 2 of the devotional books and several other books, and talking to my sponsor. I can now imagine getting my life (sanity) back. I don't feel trapped by my own thoughts and emotions now, which is a miracle. I see there are many options for my life, as I trust my Higher Power. ...to know His will and receive the power He gives to carry it out.....I'm glad to have found about the online Al-anon last week.

imagine

amanda2u2 · Senior Member

hi, imagine,

This board is all of the above, alanon, aca, aa, na. Dot is an alanon member and so does the alanon perspective, but the 12 Steps are the 12 Steps, basically, and when someone volunteers to put up the same Step Dot is on from the AA 12x12, or the ACA '12 Steps for Adult Children' then we get all of the perspectives.

I used to do the AA excerpt, and the ACA excerpt and perspectives, and I'm sorry that I can't do it any more. If someone else would be willing to do that, coordinate with Dot on the Step from each perspective, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

God bless you all,

love in recovery,

amanda

Learn how the 12 Steps work. Participate in your own recovery as well as the recovery of others, by being active on this board as we go through the 12 Steps of recovery together! We discuss each of the Twelve Steps In the order they are written, one step at a time, every two weeks.