In Step One, I accept and embrace whole-heartedly that I cannot run my life on my own since I suffer from the disease of addiction. That sets me free from having to control my life on my own... If I can't control, then what can?

That leads me to Step Two. I open my mind that there could be a Power greater than my addiction, that could take charge of my life and guide me into recovery... Some examples of this Power could be NA meetings, fellowship/members, Sponsor, the 12 Steps, spiritual principles, my personal God, my family/friends that support my recovery etc. So, I come to believe that these Powers greater than my addiction could help me with what I cannot do myself. Moreover, it's very important that I choose to believe that this "Power Greater Than Me" IS loving and caring for me.

After having opened my mind and life to reach out for help to these Powers greater than me, I surrender to the direction and guidance that these Powers bring in my daily life and recovery. And this I do through the Third Step. I make a decision everyday, at the start of the day, that I will turn over my will and my life this day to the care of this loving and caring Higher Power, meaning whatever the above examples of a Higher Power suggest me to do in the course of the day, I follow these suggestions to the best of my ability. That's the decision I make. It could be making a meeting, sharing my day/issues/situations with my Sponsor, calling and meeting other members, reading NA literature regularly, using the Serenity Prayer/Third Step Prayer or any other prayer that I feel comfortable using to communicate with my God, working the Steps, trying to practice the spiritual principles of the Program in my daily life, building/improving my relationship at home, taking care of myself physically, mentally and spiritually through exercise, meditation, a new hobby, healthy eating/sleeping habits etc. all this I do as a result of the decision I make in Step Three, as much as I possibly could. And the strength to do all of this is not my own as Step One rightly shows, but I get this strength through my Second and Third Steps, from my Higher Power.

 Hi Alaadin. Thanks for giving me this chance to explore this step further myself.

 My opinions although can be important to me , can never lay it down right . So Ill stick to the basic text and the flat book.

We break the 3rd step down because frankly it can be to much of a leap for many of us.

 We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of GOD as we understood him.

 1st you make the decision .Essential to working the 3rd is our willingness to allow a God of our understanding To work in our lives (IWH&W page 26) We found that all we needed to do was try (BT page 26) We need to realize that making a decision without following up with action is meaningless ( Step guide page 22 )
 
 It sounds like you've done that part.

Next is self will..We need to be able to identify self will over Gods will. What am I doing TODAY that is Gods will for me. It helps me to understand that My God wants only good for me. My God cares for me and wants me to succeed. Therefore its easy to see things that are negative in my life as being self will.  When we trust that there is growth in taking action despite our fears. we are ready for this step. ( page 27 IWH&W) This will not excuse us from bad things happening to us. But in the bad ,faith in a HP with help us grow. We are beginning here to see how seemingly bad things in our lives can actually be blessings. 
 We now can begin to see our will vs. Gods will. And that is ACTION.

God of our understanding......Its important to have feelings about our God. To personalize our HP. You can be angry .have fear be grateful. And through all of it TALK to your HP. Do it often. Praying is ACTION.  Make friends with your HP. It is after all the very best friend you will ever have. Develop a close relationship with your HP. Again that's ACTION. The right to a God of your understanding is total and without any catches ( bt page 24) Give up efforts at controlling everything around you (IWH&Wpage 28) Again that is ACTION.

 Turn IT OVER. Another basic principle. Turning our will and our lives over is ACTION.  We can easily lapse into old behavior: it takes DETERMINATION , TIME  and COURAGE. WE ARE NOT PERFECT. Practising all these things are ACTION.

 Focus on surrender and willingness. And put that focus into action daily . Into everything you do.  Write Write Write. Writing is ACTION. Call your sponsor. ACTION can be as easy as picking up the phone.

  Ive greatly condensed all this. there is so much more. But I think ( hope ?)  that this will get you started on a good action plan for step 3.

 Best of luck to you. Hugs

 Anthony

I had a hard time making the decision to turn my will over... i felt like i just got control of my life again and they wanted me to give it away again... So I went around asking everyone how did they do it.  How did they get a concept with an hp... how did they turn their will over..... What I heard was to think of my actions during the day.... were they done because i just wanted to do it... were they self centered actions? like overspending on stuff i didn't need or did they serve the greater good.... like talking to new comers, reaching out for help.  When i reviewed my actions i realized that in essence I had turned my will over.  I had faith in the program and the people around me, and I had the strength and courage to do what ever it takes to stay another day clean.... that was my hps will for me......

Raman wrote:

---

that shopping for shoppings sake is a real killer of my serenity,,,
mostly happens as a procrastination of something more important !

---

 Spot on! I can relate with that 100%

Hi, Alaadin. Thanks for your post. I really liked what others have said and don't have a lot to add. But this: When I am asked to make a decision to turn my will and my life over, what exactly IS my will and my life? I was told my will is my thinking and my life is my actions. When I make the decision to turn these two things over to my HP, I begin the process of learning to trust my HP. That's why it says we can't make this decision often enough. I can never make the decision often enough to completely stay out of self will because the disease LIVES in my thinking. I can however begin to trust that my HP loves and cares for me and knows better than I do what is best for me. When I can accept this, I begin to see that everything that happens in my life is happening with my HP's permission, and if with His permission, then FOR my benefit, even if I can't SEE it at the time. This attitude allows me to begin to believe that things no longer happen TO me, they happen FOR me. I stop wasting so much time and energy resisting what IS, and begin to know that I'm going to be taken care of through it all.
Finally, the text says that one action we can take is simply to commit to continue to work the steps. With all else I said, THAT is probably the BEST action I can take....
Good Luck, and Be Blessed

what is the Third step prayer? I would just like to know for my info. thanks. Take care, and God Bless always......

A very grateful recovering addict,
Lori Dee

Welcome Lori, thanks for asking...

Here's another Third Step Prayer...

God
Take My Will and My Life
Guide Me in My Recovery
Show Me How to Live

Someone here (I do not remember who) shared something a few days back that made a lot of sense to me...

"my will" = my thoughts
and
"my life" = my actions

Hope that helps... as for the literature (books) that you asked about, Basic Text or BT is the Big Book of NA. Then there is "It Works - How & Why" a supplementary book to our Basic Text which deals with our 12 Steps and 12 Traditions in more detail and depth. We also use a daily meditation book called "Just For Today" (shortly called JFT) where you can find a variety of recovery topics to reflect upon, one for each day... Then there is more literature like the Step Working Guides, the Sponsorship Book, booklets on Fourth Step, Illness in recovery, NA Group and a few IPs (Information Pamphlets) focusing on various basic tools of our recovery program... If you don't have copies of these, you can read most of this literature online at the below link...

http://www.na.org/ips/eng/index.htm