Why Are the 12 Steps Important?
Working the 12 steps are important no matter where you are in the recovery process. The recovery journey begins with admitting you are powerless over alcohol or drugs and your life has become unmanageable.
This first step for many is difficult. Most addicts do not like to admit powerlessness over anything. Regardless, you work your first step and over time you accept that you are powerless and your life is unmanageable.
You begin to work on step 2 and continue to work each step to the best of your ability. There is no real magic that occurs when working these steps other than you find yourself not drinking or using drugs and your period of abstinence becomes longer and longer.
You also find that your life overall is improving. You feel less angry and are experiencing some happiness in your life again. These 12 steps do not have an end. They are there to work whenever you need them and for however long you need them.
The question remains then, why are these important to your recovery. First, there is no better place to feel accepted than at a 12 step meeting. Once you enter a 12 step program you end your isolation and feeling alone in your addiction. During any 12 step program though you will need to address these 12 steps.
When you look back on your addiction and what you did and to whom you did it, do you feel good about those days? The answer is probably no. You may have thought that there was no way you would get back what had been lost. When you work the steps, you learn to recapture your humanity. You learn to find your way back from the “dark times” and enter a world of recovery. You will have an opportunity to find your values and appreciate the things you appreciated pre-addiction.
Working the 12 steps is a way to find yourself again. To rediscover those parts of yourself that were lost to addiction. The 12 steps are your map to recovery.
Beginning with step one and working each step that follows, allows you to examine your life and to increase your ability to have love, compassion, self-respect, personal insight, honesty, and peace in your life again.
Each step is a process of discovery and learning, which can help you achieve your goal of long-term recovery. This journey is not easy but is worth the effort.
