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A Guide to the
Twelve Steps
To help us work the Twelve Steps, Cocaine Anonymous uses a text
entitled Alcoholics Anonymous, commonly referred to as "the Big
Book." When studying this text, some of us find it useful to
substitute the word "cocaine" for "alcohol" and the word "using" for
"drinking," although in the process, some of us discovered that we
are alcoholics as well as addicts.
Because some of our members believe there are ways to take the steps
other than the method described in the Big Book, we suggest that the
reader seek guidance from a sponsor, an experienced C.A. member, or
their Higher Power, to help them decide on the method that is right
for them.
This pamphlet is not a substitute for using the Big Book and a
sponsor. Its purpose is to shed light on the twelve-step program in
the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, as it relates to our
addiction.
Taking the Twelve Steps prepares us to have a "spiritual awakening"
or a "spiritual experience" (page 569 in Alcoholics Anonymous).
These phrases refer to the change in our thinking, attitudes, and
outlook that occurs after taking the steps. This change frees us
from active addiction.
Applying the steps in our daily lives enables us to establish and
improve our conscious contact with God or our Higher Power. Many in
our fellowship believe that the greatest safeguard in preventing
relapse lies in consistent application of the Twelve Steps.
Newcomers often ask, "When should I take the steps?" Page 34 of the
Big Book states, "Some of them will be drunk [high] the day after
making their resolutions [not to use again], most of them within a
few weeks." The choice, ultimately, is up to the reader of this
pamphlet, but a full understanding of Step One can often provide the
willingness necessary to take the other eleven steps.
STEP ONE
We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other
mind-altering substances- that our lives had become unmanageable.
Our powerlessness operates on three levels: (1) A physical allergy
to cocaine, which makes it virtually impossible for us to stop using
once we start; (2) A mental obsession, which makes it impossible to
stay sober permanently on our own (pages 24 and 34); and (3) A
spiritual malady, which separates us from our Higher Power's ability
to get and keep us sober
Many of us assumed that Step One meant we couldn't get high anymore
because we couldn't handle using at all. In fact, it really means
that barring divine intervention, we are unable to stay away from
that first hit, line, or whatever (pages 24 and 34) and that we will
use again and again, no matter how much we want to stay sober.
The second part of Step One refers to how we are unable to manage
our lives, even when we are sober. One example of this
unmanageability is being "restless, irritable, and discontented"
(page xxvi; other examples are found in the second paragraph of page
52).
Step One is the foundation of the entire twelve-step process.
Without a full understanding of what this step means to us
personally, we can't expect to make much progress on the other
eleven steps. For more information, study Dr. Bob's experience on
pages xvi and 155. (Dr. Bob was one of A.A.'s co-founders.)
Two useful questions for deciding whether we are really addicts are,
"Can I stop permanently if and when I want to?" and, "Can I control
the amount I use once I start?" If the answer is "No" to either
question, we probably are addicts, according to the Big Book.
STEP TWO
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us
to sanity.
When we understand Step One and are convinced that we are addicts
(page 30), we are ready for Step Two. Coming to believe in a Higher
Power's ability to restore us to sanity does not require that we
believe in God. All we need is an open mind and a willingness to
believe that there is a power greater than ourselves (pages 46 and
47).
Many of us come to Cocaine Anonymous without any religious or
spiritual experience, yet are able to make a start towards what the
concept of a Higher Power might mean to us. Some of us use the C.A.
group as a Higher Power until we can develop a concept of our own.
Any concept, no matter how inadequate we believe it to be at the
time, is enough to make a start with Step Two (page 46).
The insanity referred to in Step Two is the part of our thinking
that allows us to convince ourselves that we can successfully use
again. Once this "mental obsession" takes hold, we are compelled to
use over and over again, regardless of the consequences that we know
will follow. It is this vicious cycle that helps us become willing
to believe that perhaps a power greater than ourselves can restore
us to sanity (page 48). Being convinced of the "three pertinent
ideas" (the A,B,C's on page 60) brings us to Step Three.
STEP THREE
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of
God as we understood Him.
In Step Three, we make a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of our concept of God at the time. The first
requirement is becoming convinced that "any life run on self will
could hardly be a success" (page 60). That text illustrates the
meaning of a life run on self will by describing the behavior of an
actor who wants to run the whole show. Many of us find it useful to
substitute our own names in this passage and to ask ourselves
honestly whether this scenario doesn't sound similar to the way we
are running our own lives (pages 60-62). The text further suggests
that this kind of self-centeredness is "the root of our troubles"
(page 62). After we understand what running our lives based on
self-will means and acknowledge its futility, we are asked to do the
"Third Step Prayer" (or its equivalent) on page 63, before going on
to Step Four.
STEP FOUR
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
In Step Four, we examine the wreckage that is accumulating from our
attempts to run the show and the things that have been blocking us
from our Higher Power. By completing and analyzing our inventory
(page 70), we are able to see where our natural instincts for money,
sex, power, and prestige have gone out of control, as we attempt to
satisfy them in selfish and self-centered ways (page 62). The
inventory involves looking at the people we resent (page 64-67), the
things we are afraid of (pages 67-68), and the people we have harmed
through our misconduct. Step Four enables us to discover, own, and
begin to be freed from the "bondage of self" described in the Third
Step Prayer.
STEP FIVE
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
In Step Five, we share our fourth-step inventory with the person of
our choice (usually our sponsor) and continue to discover "the exact
nature of our wrongs." By taking this step, we are able to identify
areas where we have allowed our selfishness, our instincts, and our
fears to control us. Sharing our inventory allows another human
being to help us examine problems that we are unable to understand
by ourselves (page 72). After completing Step Five, it is suggested
that we go home and review the first five steps of the program and
our inventory to see whether we need to add any resentments, fears,
or persons we have harmed (page 75). We ask ourselves whether we
have withheld anything in our inventory. Have we illuminated "every
twist of character, every dark cranny of the past" (page 75)? If so,
we are ready for Step Six.
STEP SIX
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character.
In reviewing our "shortcomings," we ask ourselves whether we find
these defects of character undesirable and whether we believe God
can remove them all. If we feel there are defects we're not willing
to let go of, the Big Book suggests that we pray for the willingness
to have them removed (page 76).
STEP SEVEN
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
When Step Six is complete, we say the Seventh Step Prayer to have
our shortcomings removed by God as we understand God (page 76).
STEP EIGHT
Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make
amends to them all.
In Step Eight, we list all the people we have harmed, and we pray
for the willingness to make amends to them all. Most of the amends
we need to make are disclosed in the resentment inventory (page 67)
and our sexual inventory (pages 68-70). We also include anyone else
we have harmed who isn't listed in our fourth-step inventory.
STEP NINE
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to
do so would injure them or others.
In Step Nine, we make amends to the people we have harmed. The Big
Book gives us examples for how to go about making these actual
amends (pages 76-83). Counsel from one's sponsor, as well as from
others who've had experience applying this step, is also helpful in
showing us how to repair the damage we've caused in the past.
It is through Step Nine that we're freed from the guilt, fear,
shame, and remorse that results from the harm we've done others.
Taking this step helps us "to fit ourselves to be of maximum service
to Cod and the people about us" (page 77).
STEP TEN
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
Having taken the first eight steps and made a beginning on Step
Nine, we find ourselves at Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve. Although
the Twelve Steps are designed to be taken in order, it is suggested
that we take Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve on a daily basis, while
making our ninth-step amends.
The last three steps encompass much of the first nine steps in their
structure and application. Step Ten involves continuing to take
personal inventory and setting right any new wrongs as we go along.
The Big Book teaches us that when our shortcomings "crop up," we
deal with them by using Step Ten (page 84). The main purpose of Step
Ten is to prevent us from being blocked off again from God, whose
power ultimately keeps us sober (page 64).
STEP ELEVEN
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of
His will for us and the power to carry that out.
There are many definitions of prayer and meditation, and a detailed
discussion is not practical within the confines of this pamphlet.
Some basic suggestions, on pages 86-88 of the text, outline a daily
and nightly routine we can apply to allow God to monitor and direct
our thinking.
STEP TWELVE
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these
principles in all our affairs.
Having taken the first eleven steps, we are now at Step Twelve and
are ready to carry the message to other addicts (pages 89 and 103).
Every time we work with another addict we are reminded just how bad
it was when we first came into the program. In the newcomer, we
recognize the same trembling hands, weight loss, and look of
desperation and sheer terror that we had. We hear the
unmanageability in terms of depression, misery, and unhappiness,
whether openly expressed or feebly concealed. We are reminded of our
own past troubles with personal relationships, as we see newcomers
struggle with theirs. Finally, our faith in God's ability to restore
us to sanity is reinforced, as we see God transform the life of a
newcomer, right before our eyes.
In addition to carrying the message to other addicts, Step Twelve
involves practicing these principles in all areas of our lives. If
addicts who relapse are fortunate enough to return to the program
and analyze what happened, they may find they had stopped practicing
these principles in all their affairs. That they were no longer
examining their motives, reviewing their days, praying, or carrying
the message (pages 15 and 89).
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services Inc. ©
2000
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