The first five steps expreinces

Many people have told me that the first first five steps in AA are the most important.  I was wondering if anyone would would share theire expreinces throught these steps.

1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that 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 Him.

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.

[boogieman]

hi. there are differing views on the steps, but i can share the common threads i have found between myself and most others. all 12 are essential to continued sobriety, doing only the first few or trying to do them out of order will give only part of what recovery offers, and it will likely be short lived. another mistake many folks make is thinking that they need only go through these steps once, and are then set for life. they are actually a design for living. the first three deal with the dilemma of powerlessness. the next six deal with getting our assets and liabilities current, and the last 3 deal with daily maintenance of our spiritual condition.

accepting that i can not safely consume alcohol or other drugs, and that my life is a mess when i do, make up the first step for me. this is the only step i can do 100%. the rest i can do to the best of my ability.

the second is pretty simple. i have to concede that my thinking is broken, and that something more powerful than myself can help me fix it.

the third for me, (actually 1,2,and 3) i have to practice daily. if i have completed the second step, i can then turn over my will (thoughts) and life (actions) to the greater power i acknowledged in step 2. i choose to call mine god.

the fourth and fifth steps are not as painful as a lot of folks make them out to be, if one has been thorough with the first three. we write down an inventory of our character, noting assets and liabilities, and then discuss these with another person and god as we understand him in prayer and meditation. for me, it took a few tries to get totally honest and as fearless as i could be, in order to do 4 and 5 well enough to continue with the next seven. but it has been worth the effort.

when considering the steps, i have also found that to only do up to a certain step, leave something out, or try to do them out of order means i will end up having to do them all over again concerning the same inventory, defects and amends. but if i do this thing correctly through step 9, and get current, then as long as i practice 10-12 i can remain current. i'm not that good, so i have to go back to 4-9 as time passes, but it's a solution that works. and anyone can do it, if they are willing.

best wishes,   gm