Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Step One advises you to accept that you are powerless over alcohol and other drugs. This is not to take away your power but to guide you toward a new way of thinking and to give meaning to your struggle. Once you understand addiction as a disease, you’re no longer baffled by why you’re using. You can become more comfortable with yourself and with others. You can let go of shame and guilt and start to work toward your ongoing recovery. When you admit powerlessness, you admit that you can’t control everything in your life. But you are responsible for the effort you make.
How do you know whether you’ve understood Step One? You’ll no longer be baffled by why you were using. You’ll realize the importance of staying clean and sober. And you’ll have opened your mind to the spirituality that will heal you.
Action for the Day
Use your own words to describe what Step One means to you.
Thought for the Day
“The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink.”
Alcoholics Anonymous
