rarely have we seen a person fail
who has thoroughly followed our path
those who do not recover are people who
cannot
or will not completely give themselves
to this simple program
usually men and women who are
constitutionally incapable
are being honest with themselves
there are such unfortunate
they are not at fault they seem to have
been born that way
they are naturally incapable of grasping
and developing
a manner of living which demands
rigorous honesty
their chances are less than average
there are those two who suffer from
grave emotional and mental disorders
but many of them do recover if they have
the capacity to be honest
our stories disclose in a general way
what we used to be like what happened
and what we are like now
if you have decided you want what we
have
and are willing to go to any length to
get it
then you are ready to take certain steps
as some of these we bought we thought we
could find
an easier softer way but we could not
with all the earnestness as our command
we beg of you to be fearless and
thorough from the very start
some of us have tried to hold on to our
old ideas
and the result was nil until we let go
absolutely remember
that we deal with alcohol cunning
baffling powerful without help
it is too much for us but there is one
who has all power that one
is god may you find him now
path measures availed us nothing
we stood at the turning point
we asked his protection and care
with complete abandon
here are the steps we took which are
suggested as a program of recovery
one we admitted we were powerless over
alcohol that our lives had become
unmanageable two
came to believe that a power greater
than ourselves
could restore us to sanity
three made a decision to turn our will
and our lives over to the care of god
as we understood him
four made a searching and fearless moral
inventory of ourselves
five admitted to god
to ourselves and to another human being
the exact nature of our wrongs
sick were entirely ready to have
god remove all these defects of
character
seven humbly asked him to remove
our shortcomings
a made a list
of all persons we had harmed and became
willing to make
amends to them all
nine made direct amends to such
people whenever possible except
when to do so would injure them or
others
10 continued to take personal inventory
and when we were wrong promptly admitted
it
eleven sought through prayer
and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with god as we
understood him praying only for the
knowledge of his will for us
and the power to carry that out
12 having had a spiritual awakening
as the result of the step
we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics
and to practice these principles in all
our affairs
many of us exclaimed what an order
i can't go through with it
do not be discouraged no one among us
has been able to maintain
anything like perfect adherence to these
principles
we are not saints the point is that we
are willing to grow
along spiritual lines
the principles we have set down are
guides to progress
we claim spiritual progress rather than
spiritual perfection
you