The difference in Taking the Steps and Practicing the Steps

[Rusty Zipper]

yep, here's another one Mr BB,... being good to yourself! ..... and dat's what i'm do'n ..... take'n some time to show people that all of this works, when ya work it, ohoh, there goes another dope'y slogan... OMG, rotflm(_rz_)o....................................

[Dustintodust]

WORKING THE STEPS TO ME MEANS

when i hear gotta work the steps i always think of how i worked situations....changed them to fit my desires.....i see a lot of that in AA and ive done a lot of that in my previous AA adventures..........

JR thank god for principals before personalities...you would drive me nuts if i let you have enough power over me......fortunatly you dont....

You seem to me to be what Ann smith described as a wilson worshiper (when upset about the current state of AA after bob died) if that works for you great but it kinda makes me want to throw up in my mouth a lil bit........

12 and 12 equals conference approved distraction from the clear cut directions found in the BB of AA.........opinion probably.......valid...probably.....

COnference approved literature=stuff that can be sold at meetings....the first and second edition of the big book are not conference approved....dont beleive me do some studying.....

Ill take the Big book and the good book any day over the 12 and 12 and so does every guy in our motley crew of AA NAZIS anyway JR the book tells me i need to promptly make ammends.....Im sorry i belittle your beleifs on the board

[Dustintodust]

Rusty i should have wrote this on the last one but someone got me started and i didnt finish reading the board.....

I agree and dissagree with your statement about what the steps are for....my opinion from study and my sponsor is that the 12 steps are not desighned to help us to stop drinking......they are a sly way of breaking us down getting us to god and getting us to worry about our fellows......but they did pretty good at making it seem like it was just so we could stop drinking.....

"The spiritual life is not a theory we have to live it"[/quote][/list][/code]

[JR]

Dustin,

I certainly don't worship Bill. The guy was a stockbroker who liked to sell fast talking to slow thinking people. He was depressed most of his life. He wanted to make money off the Big Book (which he wrote). He died diseased from smoking his entire life. Dr. Bob's death bed request to Bill was not to screw this thing up.

It is a miracle that this thing came together at all. I have a list of books that Dr. Bob read and I have read many of them but doubt if I will ever be able to read them all. He mostly read the bible even when he was drinking. I can't even aspire to be the kind of person Dr. Bob was. I don't worship Dr. Bob either, but I think he was a great man who deserved a lot more credit than he got.

I strongly agree with you, Dustin, that the steps are a subtle way of leading us to God. I agree, Dustin, that the steps are not designed to help you stop drinking because you cannot even think of taking these steps unless you already have stopped.

The program is the steps. The steps work. The steps led me to a God that loves me and wants me to be happy, joyous and free.

Sorry if I made you throw up in your mouth, sometimes I have that affect on people I, on the other hand, have really enjoyed all of your posts and hope you will continue to add to this site. You have a lot to offer.

XOXOX,

Jeanette (Jr)

[Woodstock]

I have sure enjoyed this string of shares tonight. Our meeting topic tonight in my home group was GOD.

You know what gets to me.....

I share how the God of my understanding was found in the steps and people look at me like I got three heads. Out of a room of 10 people with most having 16 - 25 years, I'm the only one talking steps.
It gives me the heeby jeebys because I think sometimes I've not got the program down when people older don't talk about the program; instead, their talking fellowship, and sponsors, and what they "think".

It was necessary for me to "take" the steps and "practice" the principles found within those steps daily to have the spiritual awakening promised. I didn't find God in the bottle, sex, relationships, or church. I found God in the steps. Seems simple to me now, although God is personal to me and I don't know if I have the words to describe him. I'm sober and he and I are Good together - at least it feels right.

I'm convinced there is no standing still in AA. I'm either going forward or I'm going backwards. I believe as long as I continue to seek God I'll be OK.

Thanks for being here,
Jim

[Dallas]

Jim, I really appreciate what you shared.

This entire website, Step12.com, is dedicated to talking about the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Carrying the message of Step 12, and talking about God. Imagine that!

So... I hope you'll never feel inhibited here, in sharing your experience with the 12 Steps, and the God of your own understanding.

Who knows... maybe the more people who find this site, and find it loaded up with sharing on the 12 Steps... some of them may get curious what the heck we're so excited about! And, perhaps a few might want to experiment with reading the Big Book and trying the program in the book!

All of those wonderful feelings that I was looking for in the bottle and with drugs... I found through taking the Steps out of the book. Following those simple daily instructions gives me a high that is indescribable!

I should say "yet".... but, I have never been arrested for driving while having a Spiritual Experience. I've never been thrown out of any establishment for having a Spiritual Experience. I've never been to the hospital.... (as a patient)...yet... for having a Spiritual Experience.

I kind of think it might be like this... If I told a normie, that they could dance better, talk better, and do everything better, with a few drinks... they would think I was nuts.

It's the same way, when I tell an alcoholic that they can dance better, talk better, and do everything else better after only taking 12 simple Steps... they think I'm nuts.

What really seems to be funny to me... is, typically... most alkies that I know, don't want to feel like they are missing or have missed out on anything. And, the one's that haven't taken the 12 Steps out of the book... are missing the experience of a lifetime!

Of course, in looking back on my own experience, before I took the 12 Steps out of the book, I didn't believe anything good would happen, before I took them. And, I was afraid of stirring up my old conflicts with God. I felt it was easier just to avoid thinking about God.

There is no doubt in my mind, that if I could have found an easier way to spring the trap that had a hold on me... I would have taken a different route. I thank God for the Gift of Desperation and Pain that I had bestowed upon myself! Had I not been hurting so bad.... I probably couldn't have gone through the 12 Steps either.

Dallas