Ask 20 people and you will likely get as many answers.
I was taught spirutual principles are virtues we learn to implement into daily life through working the 12 steps. There are specific traits associated with each step.
As we “practice these principles in all of our affairs,” we become efficient and effective in our primary purpose and usefulness to our Higher Power and others. The more we practice, the better we get at it. We become inspired and draw closer to a spiritual way of life.
Several different lists are popular. This one serves me well-
1. Surrender/Acceptance. (Capitulation to hopelessness and the problem.)
2. Hope. (Step 2 is the mirror image or opposite of step 1. In step 1 we admit that alcohol is our higher power, and that our lives are unmanageable. In step 2, we find a different Higher Power who we hope will bring about a return to sanity in management of our lives. The solution)
3. Commitment/Faith/Surrender. (The key word in step 3 is decision.)
4. Honesty/Courage/Action/Effort/Application. (An inventory of self.)
5. Truth/Integrity. (Candid confession to God and another human being.)
6. Willingness/Acceptance. (Choosing to abandon defects of character.)
7. Humility. (Standing naked before God, with nothing to hide, and asking that our flaws – in His eyes – be removed.)
8. Reflection/Willingness. (Who have we harmed? Are we ready to amend?)
9. Amendment/Unconditional Love/Justice/Forgiveness. (Making direct amends/restitution/correction, etc..)
10. Vigilance/Perseverance . (Exercising self-discovery, honesty, abandonment, humility, reflection and amendment on a momentary, daily, and periodic basis.)
11. Attunement/Growth. (Becoming as one with our Higher Power.)
12. Service/Freedom. (Awakening into sober usefulness and our true purpose.)
When I live using these spiritual tools, I find that I rarely think about drugs or alcohol, and I haven’t suffered from the mental obsession for 7 plus years…and I’m not as much of an ass as I used to be either…
treekeeperblog 