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A Willingness to Learn

Willingness is one of the keys to my sobriety. In early recovery as much as today, I must maintain an open mind and a willingness to learn something new. Whether it is accepting a Higher Power into my life, letting character defects go, getting a sponsor, or listening to the experience of others, willingness is [...]

Let It Go

By Buddy Wakefield Let’s let go from the get go.

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2nd Step, 3rd Step, Buddhism and Recovery, Early Recovery, Spirituality, The Four Noble Truths, The Steps August 17, 2011

The Twelve Principles: Faith

The Third Step of Alcoholics Anonymous states that we “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” I find the main principle behind this step to be faith.

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2nd Step, Buddhism and Recovery, Spirituality, The Cessation of Suffering, The Four Noble Truths, The Steps July 3, 2011

The Twelve Principles: Hope

The Second Step of Alcoholics Anonymous states that we “came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The principle behind this step is hope. The Second Step is essentially the opposite of the First Step. While in Step One, we admit our powerlessness over drugs and alcohol, Step Two [...]

Powerless or Powerful?!?!

Great post! Thanks for the heads up that this was here; I am glad I read it! I really like the focus on the word “powerless”, as you discussed in the post a little while ago. I think that powerlessness is an interesting word. I do not necessarily agree with its true meaning, but do [...]

The Most Important Day of Our Lives (part 2)

To see part 1 of this post, click here. Freedom From Anxiety After realizing that I was never living in the moment while discontented, I knew mindfulness would be my savior. The first step for me was to begin meditating.

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2nd Step, 3rd Step, 4th Step, 9th Step, Buddhism and Recovery, Early Recovery, Life Today, Meditation, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Livelihood, Right View, Samatha, Spirituality, Suffering Exists, The Cause of Suffering, The Cessation of Suffering, The Noble Eightfold Path, The Steps, Vipassana, What It Was Like May 22, 2011

The Power of Fear

Before I got sober, I was ruled by fear. I often hear in twelve-step meetings the importance of turning my will and life over to a power greater than myself. Looking back throughout my life, I always was and am turning my life over to something, essentially giving it control. When I was using, I [...]

Learning to Listen

I was recently reading a passage in a book by the amazing Thich Nhat Hanh regarding Right Speech. It discussed a very interesting aspect of Right Speech that I had not fully considered before. Part of this practice is also learning to listen well. When practicing Right Speech, it is important to allow others to [...]

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1st Step, 2nd Step, 3rd Step, Buddhism and Recovery, Life Today, Relationships, Right View, The Cause of Suffering, The Cessation of Suffering May 16, 2011

Powerless Over…..

When I first entered the twelve-step community, I learned I was powerless over drugs and alcohol. As it was the first step I took, I learned it quickly. Looking back on my using career, I saw the powerlessness in every aspect of my life. My work suffered, I dropped out of school, I burnt bridges [...]