The solution
"On the other hand - and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand - once a psychic change has occured, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort being required to follow a few simple rules."
This extract from the Doctor's Opinion tells us that the solution to our problem is to have a psychic change
(otherwise known as a spiritual awakening).
This we do by taking the following steps:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- 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.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The best way to take these steps is to find an "ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself (or herself)" to take you through them.
The best way to find such a person would be in an AA meeting. to find an AA meeting near you in Israel go to our