When it comes to abstinence, “Just Say No” has been a battle cry against recreational drug use for more than a generation. Yet, teenagers are still saying “yes” to peer pressure. Not to mention the youth and adults who say “yes” to the substance siren call that promises instant pleasure and confidence; easy relief from […]

Step 12 of the 12 Steps: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. On the path to Step 12 of the 12 Steps, most recovering substance abusers go through a “missionary phase” of […]

Step 11 of the 12 Steps: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry it out. As you begin Step 11 of the 12 Steps, you may recall that our post on Step Two […]

Step 10 of the 12 Steps: We continued to take personal inventory, and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. Like it or not, recovery from addiction isn’t something you can do once and cross off your bucket list. We all get hungry again after eating, tired again after sleeping, dirty again after showering, flabby […]

Step Nine of the 12 Steps : We made direct amends to such persons [“all persons we had wronged,” Step Eight] whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. For many 12-Steppers, the subordinate clause in Step Nine of the 12 Steps (“except when …”) seems a welcome excuse for avoiding […]

Step Eight of the 12 Steps: We made a list of all persons we had wronged, and became willing to make amends to them all. Step Eight of the 12 Steps is the first major move toward returning to the “real world” with changed behavior to match your changed attitude. In a way, this step is counterintuitive. If the […]

Step Seven of the 12 Steps: We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. The key word in Step Seven of the 12 Steps is “humbly”–no blame-shifting, no excuses, no attempts to dictate what else has to change before you can. No matter what your parents did or didn’t do, no matter what pressures you faced […]

Step Six of the 12 Steps: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. “All these defects of character” refers to, of course, all the “wrongs” that came out privately in Step Four and were confessed in Step Five of the 12 Steps. In the relief of getting things out in […]

Happy New Year, everyone! Hopefully, you’ve made resolutions to keep every day of 2016 fulfilling and purposeful. Here’s our calendar of life hacks, one for every month of the year. January While your New Year’s resolutions are still new, mark off specific time on your calendar—every day or week—for working on each of your top […]

Today and next week, our “12 Steps” series takes a hiatus to acknowledge Christmas and New Year’s. In a nod to the “12” in “12 Steps” (and to the “Twelve Days of Christmas”), the holiday posts will consist of Top 12 lists instead of the standard Top 10.  Today, you don’t have to worry about […]

Step Five of the 12 Steps: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Some religious traditions still practice formal “confession,” where a parishioner unburdens his or her conscience before a spiritual director who then assures the person of God’s forgiveness and recommends action to make up […]

Step Four of the 12 Steps: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves The use of the qualifier “fearless” acknowledges that Step Four of the 12 Steps is frequently approached with sweaty palms and trembling legs. Not only because of what we dread finding, but because this is the transition point, the place […]