Bill W., a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote the original 12 Steps 1938. He didn’t write them alone but he does deserve much of the credit. The original 12 Steps used ‘he’ as a generic, which was considered proper at the time. As I usually do, I’ve switched to a more neutral usage. For purposes of this page I’ve left the original references to alcohol – there are only two. Obviously if you’ve got another issue, substitute it; you’ll find it awkward at first and then you’ll realize it works.
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Love, blessings, and abundance,
