Steps and Traditions
 The Twelve Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over (fill in name of addictive problem) and our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
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.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to (others with similar problems) and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The Twelve Traditions
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon (program) unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority-a loving God as may be expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for (program) membership is a desire to stop (doing whatever has caused the problem that brings you to a 12-step program).
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or (this program) as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose-to carry its message to the (person with similar problem) who still suffers.
6. A group ought never endorse, finance or lend the (program) name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. (This program) should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. (This program) as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. (This program) has no opinion on outside issues; hence our name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.  Credit for the original 12 steps and 12 traditions goes to Alcoholics Anonymous. The above is not indeed the original version, as all addictions are addressed in the chosen terminology, and although the word God is retained, gender-neutral language is used. Feedback is welcome on this website. If anyone has any comment about anything here, please email me! This is not an organization but rather a (humble) personal website of a person in recovery. Like all of life, recovery is a learning experience, and I'm open to your suggestions for change!
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