How to Work Step One in AA

The 12 Steps are the foundation of recovery for Alcoholics Anonymous. Step One says: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable." The steps are read at every AA meeting. Without a firm grasp of the first step, the other eleven cannot be approached with any success. Like a house, you want your sobriety to be built on a solid foundation.

Instructions

1. Read the entire chapter on Step One in one of many AA books available. Read it every day for 30 days.

2. Recognize the enormity of the first word: We. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship that takes alcoholics out of the isolation that alcohol usually drives them. Recovery is obtained through working with others as clearly stated in Step One.

3. Admit that you cannot control your drinking. Look at your behavior honestly. Answer the questions in the pamphlet "44 Questions" to help you get a clearer look at your disease.

4. Take one drink of alcohol a week for a month if you have not yet joined an AA meeting and picked up a white chip. If you are unsure if you are an alcoholic, this step should be no problem at all for you.

5. Write about your life to this point. A mini-biography, done truthfully, will help to illustrate just how big a part alcohol has played in your life. It will help to illuminate how you do not manage your life and how your life revolved around alcohol.

6. Ask people at AA meetings how they worked Step One, and you will hear many different ideas. Take the ideas that you feel will help you and keep an open mind about trying other things as you progress in your recovery.