angus
11-21-2010, 06:02 AM
Many times at meetings we have heard new and not so new members give excuses why they have not started on the 12 step program of recovery. Here are just a few that I can recall;
"The steps are difficult; they take years to do",
"I don't believe in God",
"I'm not well enough yet"
And my personal favourite - "I'm still trying to understand the steps".....
We can identify with all of the above and so did Dr. Bob that's why he 'formaly' took his candidates through the steps.
Nowhere in the Big book of AA does it say that we have to understand the steps in order to do them.
When Dr. Bob & Bill W took alcoholics who had only been sober a couple of weeks through the program, we feel sure that these men had not been required to understand the program before they did it.
Understanding comes with the practice of the steps not beforehand. Many alcoholics have spent years trying to understand the steps but got nowhere until they brought them into their lives. The steps are then easy to understand and that understanding grows with the practice of them.
We have often heard it said that the steps are easy once you have done them. So we say don't wait until you understand the steps, do the steps, understanding comes later.
Angus.
"The steps are difficult; they take years to do",
"I don't believe in God",
"I'm not well enough yet"
And my personal favourite - "I'm still trying to understand the steps".....
We can identify with all of the above and so did Dr. Bob that's why he 'formaly' took his candidates through the steps.
Nowhere in the Big book of AA does it say that we have to understand the steps in order to do them.
When Dr. Bob & Bill W took alcoholics who had only been sober a couple of weeks through the program, we feel sure that these men had not been required to understand the program before they did it.
Understanding comes with the practice of the steps not beforehand. Many alcoholics have spent years trying to understand the steps but got nowhere until they brought them into their lives. The steps are then easy to understand and that understanding grows with the practice of them.
We have often heard it said that the steps are easy once you have done them. So we say don't wait until you understand the steps, do the steps, understanding comes later.
Angus.