July 17

July 17 – AM

Page 59-60, How It Works, Chapter 5

Half measures availed us nothing.  We stood at the turning point.  We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcoholism—that our lives had become unmanageable. The Principle is Honesty

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.  The Principle is Hope

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.  The Principle is Faith

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. The Principle is Courage

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. The Principle is Integrity

6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. The Principle is Willingness

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.  The Principle is Humility

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.  The Principle is Brotherly Love

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.  The Principle is Justice

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.  The Principle is Perseverance

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understoodHim, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.  The Principle is Spiritual Awareness

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.  The Principle is Service.

July 17 – PM

Page 73, Into Action, Chapter 6

Psychologists are inclined to agree with us.  We have spent thousands of dollars for examinations.  We know but few instances where we have given these doctors a fair break.  We have seldom told them the whole truth nor have we followed their advice.  Unwilling to be honest with these sympathetic men, we were honest with no one else.  Small wonder many in the medical profession have a low opinion of alcoholics and their chance for recovery!