The 12 steps as written in the AA Big Book were
designed to get to the underlying causes of alcoholism. and allow
alcoholics to lead normal lives. These are the steps an alcoholic
must take to achieve that goal:
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over
alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater
than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and
our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral
inventory of ourselves.
Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to
another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove
all these defects of character.
Step 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our
shortcomings.
Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had
harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9: Made direct amends to such people
wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory
and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 11: 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.
Step 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.