Somewhere in my ramblings through the literature on Alcoholics Anonymous I once ran across a Letter to the Editor of the AA Grapevine magazine from Bill W. He was answering a question a man had raised that has been on the minds of many people who are new to the program: "You say that I am to 'practice these principles in all my affairs', but exactly what are the principles I am supposed to practice?"
Bill responded very directly by listing out what he said were the foundational principles that he and others used to create the 12 Step Program::
Step One - Honesty
Step Two - Hope
Step Three - Faith
Step Four - Courage
Step Five - Integrity
Step Six - Willingness
Step Seven - Humility
Step Eight - Love
Step Nine - Perseverance
Step Ten - Discipline
Step Eleven - The Presence of God
Step Twelve - Service
When I first stumbled onto this, I marveled at the simplicity of the AA program. However, I also wondered why each of these specific principles was used as the guiding force for each step. Then it suddenly struck me like lightening about how this program was assembled, and my life hasn't been the same since.
When I used to get my drugs, it was clear that I had to give some dealer or bartender money for the drugs. That process I understood real well...it was a business deal: I give you what you want, you give me what I want. It wasn't until I did the Step Four inventory of my life that I realized that I had given up much more than just money in the transaction. In fact, each time I got my drugs, I gave the drug connection the principles that made my life worth living. I gave the dealer or bartender my honesty, hope, faith, integrity, self-respect, dignity and a host of other principles that I thought I lived by. In truth, the deal stripped me of all value in my life and left me a hollow shell of a man without any of the principles that made my life worthwhile.
The founders of AA who huddled around kitchen tables in Akron Ohio 70 years ago had the same experience I had... they traded the values in their lives for alcohol and other drugs. So, when they sat down to create the program, I think they asked themselves very simply, "Exactly what is it that I have to recover in my life in order to stop drinking?" The answer, was simple: Principles. They recognized that they needed to recover their lost principles if they were to have any hope of stopping the whirlpool spiral of their lives that was killing them all. So, I think Bill and the others first sat down and listed out what were those lost principles, rank ordered them according to which they thought they first needed to recover, and then created the method in each step that would lead to recovering that principle.
We often say that these people were inspired and there is no better example of this than the idea of restoring principles worked. First they got honest, and from that they found a new source of hope, and made a decision to practice faith in that power source. From those few simple steps and principles, they report to us decades later that they were able to build other principles back into their lives. Having a life that had been restored because these principles returned meant that there was no need to use alcohol or other drugs. And, from these first few principles sprang an entire life of renewed values that became a part of what we call recovery.
This realization had a profound effect on my life. It wasn't long after I stopped using before I was challenged to "place principles before personalities" as the program says. For various reasons involving work and family, I had decisions to make as to whether I was going to have principles in my life or whether I was going to exchange those principles for the quick fix of power, security, money, or alcohol and other drugs. It is a miracle that I chose the right thing because in the beginning I was only armed with honesty, hope and faith and had little else in my life. But, from those few, literally dozens of other values and principles have flowed into my life. I am eternally grateful to those men and women who started this program and who have taught me a new way to live.
All the best, Roger W.
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