I tackled the Seventh Step about four months after I’d finally gotten sober. I had just completed the harrowing work of the Fourth and Fifth Steps and was anxious to preserve my momentum by moving along with all deliberate speed. After the experience of doing a thorough job on Steps Four and Five, the work of Six and Seven seemed […]

“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” I was in a lot of fear when I considered approaching some of the people on my Eighth Step list. When I was between 12 and 14 years old there were many children from my neighborhood whom I had harmed through selfish […]

“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” My name is Martin and I’m an alcoholic. I’m grateful for the opportunity to write about Step 9; it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to do anything in Alcoholics Anonymous. My sobriety date is July 24th 2011, my home […]

“Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” Why do I continue to take a personal inventory? So that I do not lose my mind, sober. Step 10 is my dream house. The result of hard work invested to build the life I’ve always desired. No longer am I spiritually homeless. Now I want to […]

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” My experience with the 11th step has been a slow and begrudging progression towards a working relationship with prayer, meditation, and nightly examination of my conduct. I would […]

“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.” “They describe a hand so jittery that it could not lift a pony to the lips without spilling the contents; drinking liquor from a beer stein because it can be steadied with […]