Our Awakening

Those of us who have rigorously and thoroughly taken all of the Steps can attest to
the fact that we have become stronger people. As we make spiritual progress, we
begin to feel emotionally secure. Our new attitudes bring about self-esteem, inner
strength, and serenity that is not easily shaken by any of life’s hard times.
Our awakening has come about as a result of a spiritual house cleaning, being aware
of who we are, and cultivating a growing relationship with our Higher Power. That
relationship can lessen the role of fear as the main source of motivation in our lives.
We know that our needs will be met—perhaps not in the ways that we had hoped for,
but in ways from which we can truly grow. We have found that freedom from fear is
much more important than freedom from want. We start to accept the
unpleasantness in our lives and become grateful when we are able to experience
growth from it.

We learn to give without expecting rewards. We act as responsible members of
society, living not in isolation but with a sense of community. We become true
partners with our friends and loved ones. With the help of a Higher Power, we
respond positively to adversity. Practicing the principles we learn by taking the Twelve
Steps produces rewards beyond calculation. With a deep sense of gratitude and the
help of a Power greater than ourselves, we can live in spiritual, emotional, and
physical recovery; we live with serenity and security, one day at a time. Humbly
seeking to do the will of a Higher Power, we find that we can now live useful lives. As a
result, we reap benefits we had thought unattainable, even unimaginable.
As we each work the program in our own special way, we discover the spiritual
principles that we all have in common. We are all unique examples of how the
program works, each of us with our distinct gifts to share. We take these Steps for
ourselves, not by ourselves. Others have gone before; others will follow. We recover.

Reprinted from Life with Hope, Third Edition, page 194, with permission of MA World Services.