Two Stepping

[MajestyJo]

Two-Stepping is the same type of insanity that is found in the second Step.

We come into recovery, and it isn't as though we arrive with bells on and with the great hurrah! "I'm here, I'm here, look at me I finally made it to AA."

Yet so many people you see, come, they come to believe that AA works for others, they see it happen, and then they believe they can go and tell the world about this wonderful new thing they have found!

How do I know? I was there! At two years sober, I wanted to tell the world about what I knew and about this new way of life. What I know today was that I had just detoxed, I was just aware that I had a chance at life but I hadn't even acquired the tools, let alone the knowledge that their application would bring.''

The program is the Fellowship of the Spirit, where we learn that working the Steps, can lead to us "finding ourselves" and when we are complete and whole, then we have a message to carry."

I also found out that this is a program of change. I was told I had to change everything about myself, and then when I made some changes, more changes had to be made. I remember my co-sponsor saying as if it was yesterday, "Just because you change something, doesn't mean it isn't going to come up again! I can still remember the horror that this was an on going process, and that is today, isn't going to stay that wasy even though "I" fixed it!

Then I realized that I couldn't do it alone, of myself I am nothing but God doeth the work. Left up to me, I was almost perfect and I wouldn't have had to work so hard.

It took me two years to find total acceptance of my disease. I realized that what I had mistaken as a "fourth" step just merely qualified me to sit on a chair in the rooms, and to listen to what recovery really was instead of thinking I knew what it was. I had just come out of the fog, and was starting to believe there was hope.

The distance between Steps One and Twleve is that of a marathon of hills and valleys, hopes and dreams, and tears and fears, laughter and faith, forgiveness and trust. It is an awesme journey and not one to be overlooked or missed out on.

I had to let go of the darkness so the light of reason could shine. Then I had to continue, feeding that light so it wouldn't grow dim. I had to work to maintain that light and spread the glow to others. If is didn't share that light, it would go out, and then I would be back in the darkness again not knowing where I was going and forgetting my purpose for being.

As my spiritual advisor told me, when you get to Step Twleve, you just start over. Life is a cycle, as you grow, each day is a new beginning. Someone once asked me if I practiced the Twelve Steps in my life. I responded, "Yes, some days, all Twelve!"

I was given a second chance at life. I believe that when I was given that chance, it was the opportunity to take several steps, not just two.

[saved1]

From Buddy T, your Guide to Alcoholism
There's a saying in recovery that quitting is easy, staying quit is the difficult part. Many people find if they don't change other aspects of their life, trying to remain clean and sober can indeed be a challenge. But there are things you can do to make it easier, as described in the articles below. :40:

Developing a Drug-Free Lifestyle
If you are trying to live life clean and sober, an important step toward that goal is learning to develop a drug-free lifestyle. That includes learning to replace your previous destructive behaviors with more healthy and productive alternatives. :43:
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/support/a/lifestyle.htm?nl=1

Getting Healthy to Maintain Sobriety
A more healthy lifestyle for alcoholics and addicts in recovery - including exercise and better nutrition - can not only help you look and feel better, in its own way can also hlep prevent relapse. :24:
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/support/a/exercise_nutrition.htm?nl=1

Managing Anger as a Recovery Tool
Unfortunately, anger can be a big relapse trigger, so learning how to manage natural feelings of anger when they arise is a key part of learning to live life clean and sober. :10:
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/support/a/manage_anger.htm?nl=1

Recovery Tools: Dealing With the Past
For people in recovery, it is important to deal with the feelings of guilt and shame or lack of self-esteem, because allowing these feelings to fester can easily drive you back to drinking or drugging to escape the pain. :2:
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/support/a/cleaning_up.htm?nl=1

Recognize Your Good Traits, Although some of them may have developed as a result of your addictive behavior, some of them may have existed previously and contributed to the development of the addictive behavior in the first place, today is a new day, so what are you going to do with it?
:233:, :258:, :251:, or :24:, :43:, :219: as always the choice is yours, misery does not need to be your master.:252: :239:

[saved1]

SNUPs means, Serves No Useful Purpose. People, Places, and Things.:rolleyes:

SNUPs-SABOTAGE Your Personal Addictions Recovery Plans, UNPLUG Before Snups Sabotage Your Sobriety, Serenity, and Spirituality.

What are SNUPs?

SNUP means Serves No Useful Purpose. For example, your life is full of magazine articles saved for the never tried recipes. Your closet is full of several size clothing unused, leftovers from previous diet disasters.

These SNUPs and others trivialize and sabotage not only your attempts at behavioral change, for example, Personal Addictions Recovery, sobriety, abstinence, weight reduction,or stopping compulsive gambling, but can affect your entire ability to function.

Look at this sorta strange sentence which follows. As we explore it, you may find you better understand the internal and external sources of SNUPs-Sabotage to Personal Addictions Recovery and how your sobriety, abstinence and serenity are affected by the Artificial Stress SNUPs-Sabotage creates.

SNUPs, Martians, and Drain People use UFOs to Teach Pigs to Sing for Rehearsal and Reruns. SNUPs-Sabotage your life.

We’ll explore the implications this sentence contains for recovery, step by step. So first, let’s examine SNUPs.

The up-front disadvantage to SNUPs-Sabotage is that it often eats up your extra time and energy. The excessive busyness SNUPs require in maintenance burns-up your daylight.

“Not enough time.” Is that the excuse you use for not attending your weekly Recovery meetings or Weight Loss therapy sessions or simply doing what you want or need done?

If so, you rob your vital Addiction Recovery activities by over-committing energy and attention to the unimportant ones.

In addition, being too busy all the time can exhaust you. Tired, you may fail to see what is really important to your recovered life.

Is Sabotage a problem for you? See what you can add to this list of simple SNUPs.

Simple SNUPs

Balls of twine. Drawers of nails. Jars of screws. Stacks of newspapers. Paper bag collection. Left-over, used, broken appliance parts. Records and recordings you no longer play. Undone past taxes. Books read, unread, and never to be read. Outdated computer stuff.

Keys to no where and nothing. Sports equipment from bygone days. Kitchen gadget you just keep. Children’s old school papers. Years and years of papers. Board games you no longer play. And pictures, pictures, pictures.

You are not alone. One of the most intense SNUP developments occurred during the middle Ages, long ago. Enormous time and energy were spent debating how many angels could fit on the head of a pin.

Did you mentally add some of your own SNUPs to the above list? Do you need to review your responsibilities to these time, talent, and treasures thieves? The basic problem is that many SNUPs demand high maintenance. Especially, live ones.

SNUP Maintenance

Every item or idea you invest with attachment can become a SNUP. SNUPs-Sabotage grows as it begins to require more and more maintenance. Whether that is dusting, inventory, monitoring, accounting, feeding, polishing, protecting, investing, or updating.

Each minute or dollar you spend on maintenance is precious resources…time and money…you no longer have to respond to the Personal Addiction Recovery Opportunities of the present moment.

Your role as curator of your own private SNUPs-Sabotage museum simply robs you of your current Recovery possibilities

Your Past Steals Your Present

Perhaps, two of most vulnerable groups are seniors and those in recovery. Seniors particularly need to avoid the Aging Traps set by SNUPs.

Seniors, in particular, often trivialize their current life through maintaining the SNUPs of past loves and triumphs: mourning the missed opportunities from times dead and gone.

People in Recovery often do the same, including beating themselves with their past Addictive Behavior and its continuing consequences for their spirituality, sobriety and serenity.

So, what to do?

Acknowledge the SNUPs as SNUPs-Sabotage. Don’t spend a lot of time figuring out why or reminiscing or feeling guilty. Reviewing and rehashing forever the lost opportunities from your addictive past can itself be a way to avoid action.

Simply select a SNUP and take action.

Start with small SNUPs-Sabotage targets. Things you haven’t used or needed for a long time. If you try to take on all your SNUPs-Sabotage at once you can become paralyzed. Small steps will get you started without overwhelming your recovery.

If you get confused, get help from someone you trust not to judge, but only help you. Finding a non-judgmental helper may be awareness in itself.

We call these things simple SNUPs because they are not usually the most destructive sabotage. The most troublesome SNUPs are your UFOs.

UFO means:

Unrealistic expectations

False assumptions

Obsolete relationships.

UFOs are stealth SNUPs because they consistently operate at a subliminal level as though they were a part of your bone marrow.

UFOs are part and parcel of your fundamental belief system. And many times they are non-conscious prompters of addictive behaviors for example, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, and other Addictions.

Start to explore the detrimental results of Unrealistic Expectations.:1:

Then you'll begin to understand how illusions generate expectations which limit, restrict or sabotage your sobriety options and the Personal Addictions Recovery choices you make.:15:

Just how much does your Unrealistic Expectations undermine your Personal Addictions Recovery efforts? You’ll find it very interesting and helpful as you examine your UFOs. :blush:

[MajestyJo]

There are two other Steps that some members are inclined to work, often much more freely than Six or Seven, or Ten and Eleven. That is Step 13. Taking advantages of newcomers. Men hitting on young girls new to recovery. Women hitting on young men new to recovery. That is when you need to work Step 14. Making an amend for having practiced Step 13.

http://www.animated-gifs.eu/phone-240x320-cartoons/0027.gif

[jonesg]

"theres a slip under every skirt"

..and a skirted 4th step under every slip.:wink: