I get the god sh*t can be any higher power but i don’t believe in that at all and it’s making it difficult for me to even read the steps because they sound silly to me
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Is there something you believe in?
kinda believe in wiccan and tarot cards and that kinda stuff
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Surrender to the laws of nature. Nature seeks harmony through the chaos. Drinking and drugs disrupt that harmony. So just replace what you don’t agree with in the 12 steps with something that makes more sense to you. 
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What Tara said! I used what worked for me and left the rest out. Remember it is a “suggested steps to recovery” and “god as we understand it”
The program is a guide, not a doctrine.
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thank you both! i’ll try that
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Have you tried dharma recovery? It’s buddhist based, which is more about a way of life, than a religion. There’s also smart recovery, which is science based.
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It’s all about verbiage and the words used. If the words provoke you to “not believe in God”, which is just as religious as believing in him, then the steps won’t work, because immediately, they are making you feel bad.
My number is 509-666-2755. If you’re interested in some real answers, give me a call.
If there were no higher power I would be able to control everything. I can’t. So there must be something else. Doesn’t matter what it is, as long as I remember it’s not me.
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Just surrender to the group. Even all that other stuff people mentioned, to me, is not tangible enough. The group is. They are here for us. You can see them and talk to them and learn through their experiences.
When I came into the program, I had a giant chip on my shoulder because of all of the religious stuff. After thinking about step three for about I week, I realized it was as easy and clear as it could be. I turned myself over to the care of the group. They've been through everything I have. I haven't had any problems with it since, aside from a few pushy preachers here and there that use AA as their personal pulpits. Hey, you wanna believe in the Easter bunny to stay sober? Who am I to tell anyone that the Easter bunny won't "work"? Do what makes you happy as long as it isn't hurting anyone else.
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Find anything to believe in!! Lots of people consider a group of diverse people in recovery a higher power. A thing I learned and accepted early on is that the beliefs I had were not working in my life. I had to open my mind to others things that I may not understand nor want to. Open minds heal. The first day the guy that became my sponcor gave me the best suggestion I’ve had in recovery. All you need to know to get sober about a higher power is that there is one and it’s definitely not you!!
I’ve heard of people making AA itself their higher power because the power of AA and the steps had the power to keep others sober when they could not do it on their own, and the connections made in AA is a great tool to stay sober. If AA can keep others sober when nothing else can it’s surely a power greater than you, isn’t it? There are many other things you could say are greater than you. The ocean, the sun, etc. you need only have an open mind and a willingness to admit there are things greater than you.
I am not religious either and have a long, bad history with religion…so I can relate to your feelings. Step 3 is important because it allows you to give up trying to be in control of everything. Accepting that there is something bigger than yourself is so important. If you stay the center of your universe than there is an idea that you can somehow control things inside of your universe. The reality is that we cannot control everything and nothing revolves around us. When we let go and realize everything is so much bigger than us and stuff is going to happen to us and the only thing we can control is how we react or deal, everything gets a lot more manageable. If the word god offends you, use the ocean or the universe. As long as you accept that there are things bigger than you. My friend’s higher power was simply love one of my other friend’s was a doorknob…it worked for them…
AA for me was a practice in opening my mind and putting my ego aside(if you told me at the time that I was egocentric I would have said I was not and that I just knew that I was different lol). At the time that I came to AA I had the gift of desperation and I was willing to try anything to not feel the way that I did…I gave it a year and I am still here. I don’t care why or how it works now…I just care that it does. I now don’t think myself so special that it won’t work for me because of A, B and C…I see that it works for them so it can work for me because there are more similarities than differences. My feelings that I was fundamentally different have faded and now I know that while I have differences I can always relate and in relating grow in my recovery.
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i just asked a simple question?
All you have to do is believe that there's something greater or more powerful than yourself out there. Whether that be an energy, karma or primordial ohm ...it doesn't matter. What matters is that you understand you are not the center of the universe!
I call myself an atheist. Then I look at the universe and think “there has to be something outside of us, something that got all of this started.” My real beef is with religion, which has co opted the concept of a higher power and used it to nefarious ends. I believe that Wiccan and tarot cards have as much validity as Catholicism or Judaism or Islam; they’re all ways to try to explain the inexplicable. For me, it came down to “do I want to stay sober and live a happy and productive life.” If that takes hearing and reading the word “God”, that’s something I’m willing to do. The concept of the group as my higher power has worked for me when I feel the need to explain it to myself. I don’t know if any of that is helpful, but it’s what happens inside this alcoholic/addict’s head. Good luck.
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I had to step outside that box myself and my higher power became my children. I knew I had to do this for them not just myself. They are truly the ones I stay sober for
Check out the Sober Faction. It’s a recovery program through the Satanic Temple. I’ve hopped on a couple zoom meetings and there’s none of that culty religious nonsense like AA
Make your own steps
I am my own god. I crate everything around me and influence my own life. I focused internally through my own spirit to get clarity from my addiction. It was hard but I’ve also meditated on and off for about ten years now.
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