Addiction Rehab Recovery and Spiritual Principals

The whole purpose of the 12 steps is to have a “spiritual awakening” and adopt a lifestyle whereby we live by spiritual principals.  Despite what you may have heard the steps are the program and living according to the principals is the goal.

The word spiritual is so hard to define because it carries different meanings with different people.

Spiritual:  concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul; a spiritual approach to life; spiritual fulfillment; spiritual values.

Principal:  a rule of action or conduct (his overriding principle is honesty); a fundamental doctrine or tenet (their principles do not permit the use of alcoholic beverages).

According to the dictionary “spiritual” has to do with the spirit or soul.  We all have different concepts of what spirit we serve and that’s ok, this program is big enough to encompass all views.  What is important is that we serve something other than ourselves.

Principal defined is a rule of action or conduct, in other words what I base my life decisions on.  Not what I say, but what I do.  Why is it that we always want to be judged by what we say and not by what we do?

12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous

The 12 Steps each encompass several spiritual principals but there is usually one dominant principal for each step.  Let’s look at the 12 dominant spiritual principals of the program as they are defined by the dictionary.

Step 1.  Surrender and Acceptance:  being sincere, truthful, trustworthy, honorable, fair, genuine, and loyal with integrity.

Step 2.  Hope:  believing that anything is possible even though there may be evidence to the contrary.

Step 3.  Faith:  a secure belief in the God of your understanding and a trusting acceptance of your God’s will.

Step 4.  Courage:  taking action in spite of fear.

Step 5.  Integrity:  being a man of your word.

Step 6.  Willingness:  freedom from reluctance or reservations.

Step 7.  Humility:  lack of vanity or self-importance.

Step 8.  Brotherly Love:  a kindly and lenient attitude toward people.

Step 9.  Justice and Restitution:  act of making good or compensating for loss, damage, or injury.

Step 10.  Perseverance:  is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.

Step 11.  Spirituality:  to reconnect or improve our connection with the nature of Divinity/God in all of its forms.

Step 12.  Service:  charity and helping others without recognition or reward.

Rigorous Honesty is the overriding principal in all the steps.  None of the other principals are possible without it. Today I pray that I may begin to live the spiritual principals and not just talk about the principals.

Submitted by:

John Sheriden, Addiction Counsellor – LDR Holistic Treatment Services