I am having difficulty starting with my first step and I am not sure if I should answer each question individually or just put all the stuff together in Like under The Disease of Addiction? Should I answer each question in a paragraph or put all the answers together at once I am so lost please help me.
Well, being me, I answered each question. I answered the first question and the other questions I labled A. B. and C.
Do you have a sponsor? Mine wants me to be as complete as I can be. I have to be honest here.....there was a few times I wrote see above or refere to question...whatever. LoL
If you have a sponsor, ask them how they would suggest you work it.
I could be wrong but i dont think theres a right or wrong way to do our steps. the key as my sponsor tells me is to be. open minded, open hearted and honest. After all we are the only one that truly knows if we are bullshitting ourselves. Good luck with your first step. And welcome to MIP.
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" If you have built castles in the air , your work need not be lost ; that is where they should be . Now put the foundations under them . "
hi Shannon i am Bret and i am an addict the only way i know is to admit your life is unmanageable and you are powerless the questions for me was to get to why i was that way and after i did admit those things how to go about fixing my junkie ass don't be in such a hurry get to meetings and listen to people share they say take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth and just listen for awhile the things you need will come to you get a sponsor and do what you're told for awhile the sponsor will tell you what' when and how as long as you need i have coming up on 90 days and i share at meets and stuff but i still do a lot of listening and i have yet to get past my 3rd step so slow down get clean then get your brain-fix as you can good luck and hope to see you in the rooms
thanks and welcome rocky
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some of us win some of us lose with god and this program i will be a winner
Hi Shannon, thanks for posting and glad you are here. Have you read the preface to the step working guide? The reason I'm asking is I'm wondering if you have a sponsor. I didn't think you would be asking your question here if you did have one, because we do the steps the way our sponsor guides us. It is one of the greatest aspirations of recovery in NA to want to work the steps and I applaude you for your desire to change. However, sponsorship is the heartbeat of our program. Take away the heartbeat and what do you have?
So, back to the preface, last paragraph on pg vii, "There's probably only one inappropriate way to use these guides: alone. We can't overemphasize the importance of working with a sponsor in working the steps."
IP (informational pamphlet) #11 SPONSORSHIP talks about someone asking "Why do I need a sponsor?" The reply was, "Well, it's pretty hard to spot self-deception- by yourself!" A sponsor is not an authority figure who is going to try to tell me how to live my life, make all my decisions for me, or try to control me in some way. A sponsor is just another addict, living our program of recovery, who is willing to share his or her experience working the steps with us.
Thank you again for your post and I hope you find the answers you seek. Please keep coming back! Good Luck!!
PS I think I've "met" you in another message board/forum, glad to se you here.
-- Edited by dan h at 00:53, 2008-09-25
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"With a sweet tongue of kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair." ~Persian Proverb
I have a sponsor and she just said to pray before I start writing and to ask God to help me to be completely honest and open and to have the willingness to do the work.
She is so right hun just pray the answers will come!!!! And just DO don't hold back in reservation of right and wrong....Take it in baby steps on question at a time...My step one was the craziest the fear the apprehension the shame and guilt i need to pray to my HP to remove that and allow me to work at the best of my ability, and before i knew it i was done... But like it was said already there is no right a=or wrong way to do it just do it!!!!
This particular prayer was passed on to me as a suggestion by my first Sponsor to make use of before I do my step writing...
"God, help me write exactly that which you want me to become aware of Just For Today"
After this, whatever I write, I take it to mean what my Higher Power wanted me to write at that moment in my recovery. More will be revealed as I return to step writing from time to time, in different phases of my recovery.
Also, my Sponsor often tells me "there's no right or wrong, big or small answer in stepwork." What you write IS the answer your Higher Power wanted you to write today. All these suggestions and support made my step writing very simple, taking off all complications that I would otherwise tend to bring in, in my subconscious efforts to stall my stepwork... lol...
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
