God neutral 12 Steps the "We revision"

God neutral, The 12 Steps "We revision"

1. Drinking and drugs were bad for us.
2. We could not do it alone - something about fellowship with other drunks and drug addicts helped us stay sober.
3. Having all the answers was not a help--we had to learn to listen and follow directions.
4. We had to stop blaming, rationalizing, excusing, and we had to take responsibility, as well as take a good look at ourselves.
5. Our version of events was skewed, we needed to run it by someone a bit more objective.
6. All of our lives we had been doing things that hurt us, sabotaged our best efforts, our self esteem was warped, twisted, and improperly inflated.
7. We had to look at these things, stop doing them, and work on our selves.
8. We had shame over how we hurt others - we had to address this in order to move on--we did this by owning our part in things.
9. We had to make things right, mostly by living soberly, and by owning our responsibility to people we had hurt (appropriately, discretely, and not to those still raging and drinking).
10. We had to learn to use the emergency brake, that means when we started to lie or get angry, we had to learn how to slow down - shutting our mouth was usually a good start.
11. We came to understand that in the universe we are just specks and that life goes a whole lot better if we learn to act accordingly and when we forget this basic truth, we need to reflect about it until we remember.
12. Whew! When we do these things we are better people, we are happier, we can actually like the person we have become - sometimes people come to us for help and sometimes we have things to say that help them.

Revised by CC Property of the universe.

Practicing Buddhism in Sobriety

Below is a link to one of my online folders that contains articles and ebooks on Buddhism that I have found really useful in sobriety.  If you like podcasts, my most favorite teachers are Tara Brach, Gil Fronsdale, Jack Kornfield, and Noah Levine (Against the Stream website).  Happy to talk/email/text about any of this stuff anytime!

http://1drv.ms/14GFnjm

Christian B.
216-296-9388

God Neutral 12 Steps

God Neutral 12 Steps

1. Drinking and drugs were bad for me.
2. I could not do it alone - something about the AA group helped me stay sober.
3. Having all the answers was not a help. I had to learn to listen and follow directions.
4. I had to stop blaming, rationalizing, excusing, and take responsibility, and to take a good look at my self.
5. My version of events was skewed, I needed to run it by someone a bit more objective.
6. I had all my life been doing things that hurt me, sabotaged my best efforts, my self esteem was warped, twisted, improperly inflated.
7. I had to look at these things, stop doing them, and work on my self esteem.
8. I had shame - I had to address it in order to move on, to own my part in things.
9. I had to make things right, by living soberly, and by owning my responsibility to people I had hurt. (appropriately, discretely, and not to those still raging and drinking) --- (I did not repay the sick leave I had taken because of hangovers though) I did a much better job at work though.
10. I had to learn to use the emergency brake. When I started to lie or get angry, how to slow down - shutting my mouth was usually a good start.
11. Came to understand that in the universe I am just a speck and to act accordingly.
12. Whew!! I do these things. I am a better person, I am happy, I can actually like the person I have become - sometimes people come to me for help and I sometimes have things to say that help them.

Sick and Tired of Sick and Tired

As one of the the one of the authors of this blog, I thought that I might start with the one if not the first post of sharing my experience, strength, and hope.  AA Agnostica does this, and it seems to work for them so well that they have offered up some books to help support their site. Not that I expect this site to be as large as theirs, but I can't assume that one story won't resonate more with one person over another.  We have but one common goal. To live a sober and sane life.  So far, I've been able to do so for over a decade, and I hope that if you're stuggling, you can find a life that is free from the grips of John Barleycorn. 

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I had been a fan of alcohol since the first time I drank it. Of course, first time I drank, I drank alone, and got sick. As if a little bit of the stuff made me feel good and buzzed, why not just a titch bit more? I was seventeen at the time.