November, 2003

The Twelve Steps of AA

STEP ONE: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable."

STEP TWO: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

STEP THREE: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him"

STEP FOUR: "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

STEP FIVE: "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

STEP SIX: "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

STEP SEVEN: "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

STEP EIGHT: "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

STEP NINE: "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

STEP TEN: "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

STEP ELEVEN: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscience contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out."

STEP TWELVE: "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous ©, Fourth Edition, Pg 59-60 with permission from A.A. World Services, Inc

The Twelve Traditions of AA

TRADITION ONE: "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity."

TRADITION TWO: "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

TRADITION THREE: "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."

TRADITION FOUR: "Each group should remain autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

TRADITION FIVE: "Each A.A. group has but one primary purpose - to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

TRADITION SIX: "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."

TRADITION SEVEN: "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."

TRADITION EIGHT: "Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers."

TRADITION NINE: "A.A., as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

TRADITION TEN: "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy"

TRADITION ELEVEN: "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films."

TRADITION TWELVE: "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." Reprinted from Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions, pg 5-8, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc