​addiction ​​avert app

STEP 1

We admitted we were powerless over our addiction and that our lives had become unmanageable. 

Personal story: As an addict I wanted to beat the disease by being able to drink and handle it. It was only when I realized that in order to win, I had to give in and accept defeat to addiction. That was when I truly able to be victorious and have success with sobriety.

STEP 2

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

As a child of sexual abuse, I had a difficult time understanding how God could allow abuse and addiction to happen to someone. My trust in God had to be restored and that took some time.

STEP 3

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.

I decided that my life was A mess and God could not #@!% it up any more than I had, therefore I would give him a try.

STEP 4

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

My list was long and it constantly renewed itself.

STEP 5

Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

After processing my list I found there were things that I was not responsible for regarding my childhood abuse. That guilt did not belong to me and I was able to let it go. Other items on the list were usually entangled with my addiction.

STEP 6

We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

I came to an understanding that my problems were directly related to my drinking and it had to stop.

STEP 7

Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

I asked, but it took awhile to believe that God would take action.  It also took effort on my part, what was the role that I played in my own addiction?

STEP 8

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

This was an interesting list. My family of course was on the list. However, I needed to make amends to myself and forgive myself for the harm that I caused. My abuser was also there, not for the harm I did to him but for the harm he did to me. Forgiveness was a necessity for my own life, health and sobriety.

STEP 9

Made direct amends to such people where ever possible, except to do so would injure them or others.

This was also a work in progress, with me being the most difficult. I found that the shame started to disappear as forgiveness was given and my recovery began.

STEP 10
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Progress not perfection. Recovery is daily, when a shortfall comes, address it, take action, and move forward.

STEP 11

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.

This is where my anger with God changed to my understanding of God; before I thought that I was abandoned by God when I was abused. I now understand that I would not be the person that I am today if it were not for the abuse as a child and my disease of addiction. Today my tragedy is a triumph and I am grateful for my obstacles and who I am as person.

STEP 12

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

Here I am, sharing my experience strength and hope. I wish you the best in your recovery. Together we can pay it forward.
 

12 Step programs include AA, NA, GA, CODA, and more. Put the important information that you learn at your support group into the addiction app so that is can be easily accessed.