Is anyone willing to share their hangups with the first step... asking for a couple of friends. Just trying to get a broader picture. As I grew up in church, and the first step was not an issue once I was ready to make a change. I am also in the process of creating content regarding the first step and any input is helpful
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Step 1 : We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable. From my experience throughout my many relapses since 1st attempting a sober life nearly 2 years ago...well it seems like in some way somehow a relapse is back to Step 1 which for me intertwines and doesn't separate from Steps 2 and 3. We are responsible for our recovery! We can no longer blame people, places, and things for our addiction. We must face ourselves 🪞
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100%. Agreed. Going back through the steps myself. Thank you that was very helpful.
Hmmm one hangup I have had is 'If I don't drink it. Am I still powerless over it?'. I think being powerless over the effects alcohol has on my body and mind is more to the point
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I just know that if I pick a drink or use again I will become completely Powerless once again, Alcohol takes all Control over me and just causes nothing but Harm & Destruction along the way..Just for Today, I choose to Not drink..Just for Today, I will have control over what I put into my body..Just for Today, I choose to be Happy!!
🪻
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True. This is why I ask. Communication is key!
Right. Seems like a simple steps, and it is, yet I make it difficult!
The same thought has crossed my mind...if you are clean and sober for years are you still an addict/alcoholic? We have to figure that out for ourselves
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I was abstinent from alcohol and weed for over 25 years. The mental obsession to try it again after all these years was like a freight train building in my head for a few years before I actually tried it. I started drinking and getting high on “special occasions”. Within a year or two, the obsession came back hard. Following that I was back to getting F’d up every day, and my already unmanageable life completely went off the rails. So in my mind, yes I was always an alcoholic/addict. I just wasn’t actively putting it in my body. It is my belief that the mental obsession came back first because I wasn’t practicing a recovery program. This is just the way I choose to see it. It’s my experience and truth
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I expect that I was hooked on booze from the first sip of my dad's beer because from then on I never remember not wanting more .But as for an umanageable life .I always had a job and probably just done enough to keep it or at least that is how school went .Just enough to get by .I had 2 vehicles and a new gravel truck so thought I was managing well .But remember driving my gravel truck down the street past the bar and thinking if I stop there I will loose everything cause really that was all I really wanted was to drink like normal people but knew I couldn't drink 1 and leave.Was that a spiritual awakening? I am not sure
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It's easy ... If the individual has conceived to their innermost self that they have a drinking problem and that their life spirals out of control because of it, then admitting that they are an alcoholic and that their life has become unmanageable should be the easy part.
Now if they've gone to meetings, just walking in the room is a sign of the first step. Introducing themselves to the group and identifying as an alcoholic is part of the first step. It's the back side of the first step that is the crucial part. We can identify as an alcoholic all day long. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. I always tell my sponsees believe 5% of what people say and 95% of what they do.
The 12 steps are not hard. Take them at face value. We as humans masterbate then in our minds thus we make them hard.
If you're out there and struggling with the first 8 steps reach out to me. I'll walk you through them.
As a matter of fact the AA Clubhouse I go to does a step 1-8 workshop every 2nd Saturday of the month from 2pm to 5pm. The next one is Saturday the 9th of November in Lake Forest, CA. We're trying to put it on a zoom schedule. If you're in possession of a gift card from the courts and you show up ... I'll sign it twice.
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The best thing for me is to realize that regardless of whether I drink 1 or 100, I receive no benefit from that poison
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I didn't have any problem admitting and acknowledging I was an alcoholic and a drug addict, my hangup was I thought I could manage it and get through life being one. Turns out it wasn't sustainable. My body and mind gave out around 39 years old. Had to surrender to drugs and alcohol if I wanted to survive. Pretty simple but wish I would have come to this conclusion earlier in life
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For me I could admit it but I couldn't accept it. I struggled for 5 years in and out of aa before it finally clicked that I'm miserable and drinking doesn't make it better. Then the real work began.
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First step is in two parts.
-1st powerlessness
When I start I can I stop no problem???
No
then I’m powerless over it.
-2nd unmanageably
Does it cause me problems in my work, relationships, mental health, family, friendships, physical health?
Yes
Then my life is unmanageable (where alcohol is concerned)
That is the first step.
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Just for today is a great way to approach it, one day at a time.
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Lee, thank you bro. This has been so many of our experiences as I'm finding. Thanks you. This helps a lot and will mention returning to our addictions thinking we can all of the sudden "control" t!
In the end, I guess it all goes back to the whole lives have become unmanageable, truth!
Yes, I agree.That's what got me eventually. Before my DOC I thought I was managing "ok" i don't know at what point I realized at.Going to jail and being on the street, it's not OK...
I've not heard that, but that is so true. Thank you!
Man, thank you, Matt, as always! Crazy. Enough, I decided to make it a step one and two. As the two coincide... this helps tremendously thank you so much!