It Works: How and Why by Narcotics Anonymous

Author:Narcotics Anonymous [Narcotics Anonymous]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781557769343
Publisher: Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Published: 1993-09-29T23:00:00+00:00

STEP TWELVE

“Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

In a sense, Step Twelve encompasses all the steps. We must make use of what we’ve learned in the previous eleven as we carry the message and practice the principles of recovery in all our affairs. Individually and collectively, each step has contributed to the extraordinary transformation which we know as a spiritual awakening.

Many of us have wondered how this spiritual awakening comes about. Does it happen all at once, or does it occur slowly over a long period of time? While there may be great variations within our experience about this awakening of the spirit, we all agree that it results from working the steps.

Our awakening has been progressive, beginning with a spark of awareness in the First Step. Before we admitted the truth about our addiction, we knew only the darkness of denial. But when we surrendered, acknowledging that we couldn’t arrest our addiction or hope for a better life on our own, a ray of light broke through the darkness, beginning our spiritual awakening.

Though each individual’s experience of a spiritual awakening varies, some experiences are so common as to be almost universal. Humility is one of these common factors. We first began to experience humility when we opened our minds to the possibility that a Power greater than ourselves existed. For some of us, this experience was so astounding that we received an almost physical jolt from the knowledge that we weren’t alone in our struggle for recovery. Step Two allowed us our first glimpse of hope. That hope had an immediate and powerful effect on our despairing spirit, providing us with a reason to go on.

Our desire for something different prompted us to a deeper level of surrender in the Third Step. Not only did we admit that we couldn’t control our addiction, we went on to recognize that our will and lives would be better left to the care of our Higher Power. Paradoxically, in this admission we found our greatest strength. As we worked the Third Step, we began to understand that we could tap the limitless resource of our Higher Power for everything needed to heal us spiritually.

This included the courage we knew we would need to work the Fourth Step. Many of us dreaded the process of self-appraisal called for in Step Four, despite the gentle assurances of our fellow NA members that we would find spiritual rewards in the process. Though we were afraid, we went forward, somehow believing in the experience of other recovering addicts. Once our inventory was completed, we no longer needed convincing. In the process, we had experienced spiritual growth for ourselves. Our spirits were strengthened by our emerging integrity. The shaping of values, so essential to our character, was just one of the positive results we found in the Fourth Step.

Unlike the admission we made in the First Step, which was made in desperation, the admission we made in Step Five was voluntary.

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