Hello Veterans. I found this in a great book by Deepak Chopra and Dr Dennis Simon. This passage expands the 12 steps of AA to include spiritual pathways to addiction recovery. I hope you can check it out for yourself.
Julia W.
Expanding the Steps to Freedom
D. Simon & D. Chopra
Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Reframe of step one: As a spiritual being, I recognize that my ego is not the real me and has no power. An ego-based life seeking security through control, power, or approval is difficult to manage.
Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Reframe of step two: Underlying and giving rise t o my ego is a field of awareness with infinite possibilities. Surrendering to this field within myself, I become safe, centered, and balanced, and I am capable of making life-supporting choices.
Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Reframe of step three: Made a commitment to expand my internal reference point, from a skin-encapsulated, ego seeking control and approval to a unique expression of universal Being.
Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Reframe of step four: I commit to exploring, healing, and transforming the hidden dimensions of my heart and soul through the regular practice of recapitulation.
Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Reframe of step five: I commit to cultivation nourishing relationships with others and with myself, so I am able to make healthy choices without the burden of regret, resentment, or grievance.
Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Reframe of step six: I commit to accessing the aspect of my being that embraces and transcends the duality of my nature, so I man consciously choose to express those qualities that resonate with my higher self.
Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Reframe of step seven: I commit to acknowledging the light and dark elements of my nature as an expression of a deeper reality that is beyond duality. Accepting my capacity for duality and unity empowers me to make life-supporting evolutionary choices.
Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Reframe of step eight: I commit to taking responsibility for the choices I have made that had unintended consequences, including creating pain for others and myself.
Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Reframe of step nine: I commit to a life of healing and transformation. Through my thoughts, words, and actions, I will demonstrate my awareness of the interrelatedness of life.
Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Reframe of step ten: I commit to a spiritual practice of responding to life with greater awareness so my choices will be increasingly life supporting.
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.
Reframe of step eleven: Through meditation and reflective self-inquiry, I commit to immersing myself in expanded awareness, thinking, and behaving in the world as an expression of the universe.
Step Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principals in all our affairs.
Reframe of step twelve: I commit to exploring the sacred dimensions of my soul and expressing my higher qualities in my relationships with others and myself.
Remember friends. Don't have a good day. Have a great day.
Julia's Rule.
Julia W.
