Member: Kathy D
Location: AM, OH
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 11:10:09

Comments

Hi! I'm Kathy and I am an alcoholic. Two important things I learned from this step... 1. I can not keep anyone else sober. All I can do is share my experience, strength and hope and that will keep me sober...if they get sober also then that is a bonus. 2. Treat the non-alcoholics around you just like you would the people in AA. Thanks for being part of my recovery today.


Member: Bob S.
Location: Salt Lake City
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 13:27:16

Comments

Hi, I'm Bob and I'm an alcoholic. It is said that the comma in Step 8 is the most important in the steps as it allows us to do the step in steps. I believe the word "the" in this step accurately describes the purpose of the A.A. program. I had the dawning of this awakening before getting to this step in writing, but because I was going to meetings from the start, I was already carrying the message, and more importantly, the message was being carried to me. I just didn't know the depth of this awakening until I got further into recovery. The Herbert Spencer quote on page 570 in the BB, is a good description why keeping on showing up and doing my best to carry the message, gives ME the evolving full benefits of this fellowship. I agree with Kathy, I'm the one who benefits here. I'm grateful for the gift of the improving spiritual condition I've found and the way it has helped me fit into the rest of the world and be more useful. Thanks for giving me the life I have today. I celebrated my anniversary yesterday (1/18/83) and am indebted to you all for the gift of my life.


Member: AZbill
Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 13:40:12

Comments

Hi. Bill here. Alcoholic from Arizona. Our Twelfth Step. Carrying the message. Reminds me of my early sobriety when I was taught about the Three Legacies...Recovery, Unity, and Service. Something about trying to balance a three legged stool on one or two legs. The three legacies must be kept in tact. In Recovery we get sober together; in Unity we work for the good of AA; and through Service we give away what was so freely given to us. Let me put it a bit simpler. The Steps are how it works. The Traditions are why it works. The Concepts of Service is what keeps it working. Thank you for being a part of my sobriety today. Bill Email: az-bill@mindspring.com


Member: Melissa
Location: Canada
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 18:53:11

Comments

Hi, Melissa, alcoholic. I agree with Kathy S, to treat the non-alcoholics as I would the people in recovery. 'Practice these principles' means I do it at home with my family, too. If I stay the same old Melissa at home, then I stay the same old two-faced person looking for approval and it'd probably lead me back to the bottle. At this stage of my recovery, the three words 'practice these principles' are the most meaningful to me in this step. It feels like I've had a spiritual awakening and I do carry the message, but my foundation remains in practicing the principles. Thank you for my sobriety.


Member: Harry K
Location: U.K
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 19:44:11

Comments

Ahmen Mellisa! It's about time I heard someone say what this step is really about! Having had a spiritual awakining was the result of my taking the steps, carrying the message extends to everyone, not just the drunk, but NONE of this lasts for any period of time unless I practice these principals in ALL my affairs. It tells us in step 10 that we have a daily reprive contingent on the MAINTENANCE OF OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION> For me the key word is DAILY and MAINTENANCE. Step 12 is a daily step, and once again we need be reminded that we need to continue to "practice" these principals. "Practice" does not make perfect as I was falsly told. perfect does not exist. Practice makes "Improvement"> So long as I continue to make efforts towards improving myself, I'll be o.k. If not, My spiritual awakening turns into self-will and conceite and my message will be Harry's Anonymous. Thats not the right message. I need to remember, its the empty barrel that makes the most noise! Thanks for keeping it "litteral and SIMPLE" for me. God bless you.


Member: Lessa E
Location: Chicago
Date: 19 Jan 2003
Time: 20:13:12

Comments

Lessa E here, very grateful recovering alcoholic. I happened to read this step earlier today in the 12&12 while looking up some other information. We're told that the key to this step is "ACTION". As a result of the spiritual awakening we've had from working the previous 11 steps, we are called to do a couple things. First we're told how imperative it is for us to give away what has been so freely given to us, to help our fellow alcoholics. I need contact with folks like me who understand my thinking (or lack of it, *G). I need to be reminded of where I came from and to be held accountable for things I do today. But, as a few others have already mentioned, this step involves more than that. We have to extend the principles of this program to ALL areas of our lives. We're told that even the best AA's, without taking the first drink, "often get quite far off the beam" (pg 112). I know I've found that to be true. We're told that early on, doctors concluded that even recovering AA's "were still childish, emotionally sensitive and grandiose". GULP!!! That one sure hits a little too close for my own comfort (*G!!). The practicing of these principles in all of our affairs, with other AA's as well as with "normies", at meetings, at work and at play - therein lies a bigger challenge for this drunk. And while a challenge, it's the key to living for me. I like the way the 12 & 12 tells us that "understanding is the key to right principles and attidutes, and right action is the key to good living. Therefore the joy of good living is the them of AA's twelfth step." (pg 125) And I'm finding this to be true, ODAAT. Thanks for letting me share. lessa_e@hotmail.com


Member: Kim V
Location: Mars Hill, NC
Date: 20 Jan 2003
Time: 06:14:11

Comments

Hi Kim here alcoholic. boy did I need to hear step 12. I have been severly depressed lately. I use to be so into carrying the message of AA that it was like contagious. Now I am treasure of my home group bur we rarely see new comers at this group. I miss that contagious feeling of passing the message on, whether or not that person gets it or not. I guess I haven't been doing much of the action part lately and maybe that is why I am depressed. Even after being sober 6 1/2 years I know I need continuous action and practice with these steps if I want to live joyous, happy amd free. Thanks for being here and letting me hear what I so desperately needed to hear.Still powerless. Kim V


Member: Cindi P.
Location: Chippewa Falls, WI
Date: 20 Jan 2003
Time: 12:29:19

Comments

My name is Cindi P. and I am an alcoholic. Each phrase in this step is important in my sobriety today. Through doing the steps with my sponsor I had that psychic change that taught me to live life with spiritual guidance. This changed how I responded to everything in my life and gave me a message of hope to share with everyone. I carried the message by going to meetings regularly, taking commitments at the meetings, sharing my ES&H. ODAAT I have lived through catastrophe and bliss and everything in between. And, like others have said, what I have done for others has helped me grow also. Thak you.


Member: Ollie K
Location: UK
Date: 20 Jan 2003
Time: 14:14:14

Comments

I've not completed the earlier steps yet. But I just think it's right for me to say a massive THANK YOU for those of you who share your experiences with me. I know I don't always deserve the time you give me, but I am HONESTLY so very gratefull. It truly makes a difference.


Member: chris t
Location: baltimore MD
Date: 20 Jan 2003
Time: 18:34:13

Comments

hello my name is chris and a grateful alcoholic. i echo kim's comments about being on the down side and needing to hear (and see) the words of wisdom. Action is what this is all about. I too have been on a down slide and had warning signs just prior to my 7th birthday in december 2002. i recognized it, ignored it and finally hit an emotional bottom yesterday which brought me back once more. i found a meweting last night and it was the medicine that was long needed - to sit, listen and absorb. i have much more work to do, but that is okay. i need the contagiousness of the program and to get back to the basics of what this program is all about. thank you all


Member: jay I
Location:
Date: 20 Jan 2003
Time: 19:23:32

Comments

hi my name is jay and i'm an alcoholic,and happy to be and know that i'm an alcoholic (and recovering drugs).coming into AA has changed my life so much,when i came in i was a very weak person, but AA has made me grow up, take a look @ myself and my life, and to do something about it.I couldn't talk on the phone let alone share @ a meeting in front of people,I couldn't walk down the street because i thought everyone was watching me let alone sitting @ the top table to do a chair,and i couldn't read a newspaper because my mind was racing so fast i couldn't concentrate let alone read chapter 5 @ the start of the meeting,but AA and going through the twelve steps has slowed me down learned me how to talk, read, and listen. It's learned me how to deal with the fear i alway's felt, the paranoia,phobia's and self awareness and every other part of my life, because my life was totally unmanagable.From going for a haircut to buying a newspaper i couldn't do it,now through practice (and a lot of failure,pain and more practice)i'm learning how to deal with life as it comes @ me on a daily basis,after sharing all my hurtful past with my sponsor, and going to ALL the people i've hurt and asking for their forgiveness, my life has been brought up to the present time ,(taking inventry @ the end of each day to keep tidying up as i go along,not creating another past).So step twelve asks me to carry the message, and it's my pleasure to go to meetings to share my ESandH so maybe someone gets some hope from me, i can't get anyone sober, that's up to them and the man above, but others were there for me so it's the least i can do, I can also carry the message @ home, work ,or in the street or where ever i am, not that anyone know's i'm in AA no-one know's only my family, but if someone asks how i can stay off it and be genuinely happy and only if they're genuinely looking help i'll tell them AA is the only thing that worked.I'm a very genuinely greatful alcoholic, i have my lovely wife a good woman, two beautiful daughters (4,17months), i have a job,and we have our own wee house,and i have my sponsorand about 4 real genuine friends in AA who i can share and identify with on a one to one and that's all i need. So it's as well this isn't a real meeting or you'd all be asleep by now, ha.thanX 4 letting me share .maybe this isn't allowed but i'd love to hear from alcoholics from anywhere, my e-mail is jay.irvine@btopenworld.com


Member: Jack B
Location: Palo Alto, Pa
Date: 21 Jan 2003
Time: 02:17:07

Comments

Hi I am Jack, a real alcoholic. I am a firm believer that the only message an alcoholic carries to another alcoholic is the message of hope. For me step 12 is living by these steps and getting better. and try to help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. Thanks for allowing me to share and God Bless


Member: Adrienne
Location: Auckland, NZ
Date: 21 Jan 2003
Time: 06:00:20

Comments

Hi everyone, thanks Lessa for your sharing, it was a great encouragement to me. I have been giving the 12th step some thought in recent times, and believe that the evidence of steps well taken is the ability to live joyfully and free, in what is increasingly a sorely troubled world. Thank God for AA, and the solution it offers those of us who are willing to "give themselves completely " to this simple program.


Member: AnilG
Location: MtVernon,IL
Date: 21 Jan 2003
Time: 08:39:24

Comments

I am an alcoholic though i am still working on my steps 4 and 5 but i would not forget the day when I was approached and helped by another aa fellow and I entered into the programm now I would to share my strenght hope and experiance to others whenever I reach this step. thanks to aa and alanon.


Member: Marv L
Location: Laurel,Ms
Date: 21 Jan 2003
Time: 23:50:59

Comments

Hi,Marv L.alcoholic.It took a while....when I first looked at Step Twelve,seemed hard to understand.Im glad they framed it just like they did! Like all the steps,our founders had wisdom in simply telling what they did,in order to regain sanity.Step twelve first tells what had happened as a result of taking these steps--"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps....." For me,at first I doubted this would EVER happen! But conceding to my innermost self that I am alcoholic ended a fight that almost killed me..And,in step two,when I came to beleive THAT a power greater than myself COULD restore me to sanity,a little hope was born.It made step three very logical, "I cant,He can,Ill LET Him" Step four was an effort to clear away the wreckage of my past,and when I did step 5,it brought relief and a feeling of inner cleanness.The next four steps cleared my view of WHY alcoholism robbed me of a values system,I began to see my character defects were the real problem,and I could trust a higher power to help me with them.I began to see it was possible to face life squarely,even SOBERLY!!I wanted what you had,and it was a spiritual awakening as a result of working those steps that let me understand how you got it!!! AA gave me a new way of life--how could I NOT try to pass on such a gift,and practice these principles in daily living?? IT WORKS! When alcoholism beat me into a state of reasonableness,thank God there were recovering people who could pass the program on to me,and with every passing day,Im more aware of the gift we"ve been given!! Thanks SO much,and do join us as we trudge the road to a happy destiny!!


Member: Bob P.
Location: WI/IL border
Date: 22 Jan 2003
Time: 22:18:37

Comments

Bob P. here. DOS 5/12/99. Step 12. When I am carrying the message and talking to another alcoholic, I am not focusing completely on the dangerous land between my ears and building resentments and percolating fears and doubts. This is how it works..


Member: Melanie
Location: Ohio(brrrrr)USA
Date: 23 Jan 2003
Time: 00:08:04

Comments

Hi All, I'm Melanie an alcoholic. Thanks for the comments. I've lost some focus in the past year or so (I too am approaching 7 years in 2003.) Since my sponsee stopped calling,I've been neglecting the carrying the message part of this step. Thank God she is still sober, working with someone else. As they say, "when the teacher is ready, the student will appear." Maybe when the teacher is momentarily overwhelmed and not as spiritually fit as she should be, God leads the pupil away for both their good. Reading this step 12 discussion has made me take a moment to consider how I practice these principles. Well, I definitely need to get back into these steps. I think I'll start at...oh...step 1. Considering "progress, not perfection" I can see that progress has been made, just as there is room for more progress. Thank the Lord for AA and all of you for saving my life. I'm glad I've been able to survive a little complacency, alittle back-sliding without losing myself again. Keep sharing, new people help us all too.


Member: Curious
Location: Midwest
Date: 23 Jan 2003
Time: 04:23:10

Comments

Curious alkoholic. What is the message of step 12? Is it that we just sit around in meetings and share about our drinking days? Read the history of AA. It is about what we do, not what we say. My sponsor was a friend of Bill W. and he said that anytime Bill was asked how to get sober, he suggested getting the Big book, reading the instructions and DOING what it says. Listen to those that go back out. Many of them have years without a drink. Why did they drink? In the Book it tells us in step 5, they did not clean up their act but left a lot of garbage in their lives so when nothing really changed, nothing changed. This isn't a game people. We are sick. How long do we wait before we go to the Doctor? How long would you wait with a broken leg? This is much more serious, it is about our very lives. Don't know what to do? "It's in the Book" Bless your efforts.


Member: Craig L (Dogmanor@yahoo.com)
Location: Aloha, Oregon
Date: 23 Jan 2003
Time: 11:09:59

Comments

I'm a real alcoholic (page 21.). For me spirituality is the sense of Peace and Joy I find in life today. Joy is knowing I am in conscious contact with something much greater than myself. Something with the power to create and move the Universe. As someone else here said, I stay in Joy by simple action. No matter how seemingly screwed up my ego has things appearing, one hour in a detox unit or inpatient facility, carrying the message of recovery to those still suffering, always brings me back to Peace. The results are not my business, just the action. In general society, I can choose Peace, by staying honest, treating others with respect (including traffic LOL) and letting my Joy shine through as demonstration of the power of God.


Member: Joy S.
Location: Chas.SC
Date: 25 Jan 2003
Time: 13:44:15

Comments

Went to a meeting today to pick up 2 yr chip and met a new woman struggling with the same issues I had when I first came in. I could understand the look on her face so well! Her pain and acknowledgment of failure. How hard it was to admit that to us all. She doesn't realize yet she just took the first step into recovery and her new life. I look forward to seeing her grow and break free from the deadlier aspects of this fatal disease. Seeing everyone rally around to help her just touched my heart, and being able to be one of the ones offering help touched me too. I remember when I was the one that people gathered around and how afraid of them I was, these others who were part of my reclamation. This program has given me so much more than just the tools to stay away from that first drink, the list is endless literally, and sobriety would have been plenty. Very grateful and emotional today. So pleased to see someone else begin, and also to know that the road they have chosen is difficult as well as fullfilling. I wish her and us all God's Speed. So very grateful. Thank you.


Member: anon
Location: usa
Date: 25 Jan 2003
Time: 17:19:24

Comments

I struggle with 12th step work because I struggle with feeling like a "bad" person. I question my influence on people. My H.P. is beginning to deal with me about this. It 's about trusting Him. Most of my 12 step work so far has been making coffee, cleaning up after meetings, embracing the new comer ,giving rides to meetings practicing the steps at home at work. THANKS