ONE MANS A.A.

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

"WHO cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness. It is truly awful to admit, that glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us."

Understanding and accepting Step One is that act of "Providence", Step One is the key that opens the doors of the A.A. way of life. How should the alcoholic approach this all important step? How can the alcoholic make the spirit of Step One a part of his total being? This is not an easy task.

Perhaps the way to understanding and accepting Step One lies in the other aspects of the A.A. program. Let us examine.

Of all the A.A. slogans, "Keep an Open Mind" is without a peer. This slogan has universal meaning and application and a special meaning for the alcoholic.

If the alcoholic cannot keep an open mind, he cannot accept and admit defeat and until he surrenders totally, Step One will remain a word and a number.

Keep an open mind will lead the alcoholic to know that he cannot achieve sobriety alone. He must have the help of at least one other person. It soon becomes obvious that a person does not become an alcoholic alone and cannot attain lasting sobriety alone.

With an open mind the alcoholic can look for an understanding of Step Two:

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

When the alcoholic grasps (as he must) that help must come from without, then it all begins to happen. The quiet knowledge that there is another way to live, with hope, will spur the alcoholic to do more. The alcoholic will consider and study each and every of the parts of the A.A. program of recovery and grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

This new found life of growth can only make the alcoholic accept Step One in its every meaning.

"The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole society has sprung and flowered."

"Then, and only then, do we become as open-minded to conviction and as willing to listen. We stand ready to do anything which will lift the merciless obsession from us."

In living the A.A. program, there can be no reservations. Reservations will no longer exist when we know, understand and totally accept the spirit of Step One.

And, always, "Keep and Open Mind."

ANONYMOUS

DON SAYS: I included this article as an example of one man's opinion of Steps 1 and 2. It is up to the gentle reader to form his own opinion.