12 Steps
The Twelve Steps outline our program for personal recovery. They form the core of recovery in Narcotics Anonymous. They are simple guidelines we can apply in everyday life that will help us get and stay clean.
The 12 steps contain spiritual principles that help us to clean up and realign our lives. The word “God” occurs in the text; this does not refer to a religion or belief, but everyone can use what suits him or her personally in the sense of a power that is greater than ourselves.
The 12 Steps of NA
If you want what we have to offer then you are able to take certain steps. Here are the steps that made our recovery possible:
- We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction and that we couldn't manage our lives anymore.
- We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore our sanity.
- We made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of God as we understood Him.
- We took an exploratory and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our mistakes.
- We were absolutely willing to let God remove all these defects of character.
- We humbly asked Him to rid us of these shortcomings.
- We made a list of all the people we had harmed and became willing to make amends on all of them.
- We made amends with these people whenever we could, unless it meant hurting them or others.
- We continued to take personal inventory, and when we made mistakes, we immediately acknowledged them.
- Through prayer and meditation we sought to deepen the conscious connection to God as we understood Him. We only asked Him to make His will known to us and to give us the strength to carry it out.
- Having experienced a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we sought to share this message with other addicts and to base our daily lives on these principles.
© Narcotics Anonymous
