Yes. You read that right. I said ‘Using the 12 Steps to Overcome ANY Addiction‘.
You can use the 12 Steps to overcome ANY addiction.
How do I know this?
1. I’ve personally used the 12 Steps to recover from my own addictions.
2. I began using the 12 Steps for recovery in 1986 – And I’ve continued and still continue to use them as my daily way of life.
3. I’ve personally witnessed the complete and total recovery of thousands of individuals with all kinds of addictions and obsessions over the last 35 years.
4. I’ve also witnessed many who failed to recover – but it wasn’t because the 12 Steps failed them – it was because those people failed in their use of the 12 Steps. I was once one of them.
My personal story of experience with addictions, obsessions, and self-destruction is long.
However – my personal story of recovery is now much longer. And, throughout this website I will share it with those who may be interested in hearing it. But, for now – and for you – my story is not as important as your story!
If you’re currently anywhere near where I landed in 1985 – you’ve either lost everything important to you or you’ve very near to losing it. And if you are currently where I landed in 1985, you’ve already experienced business failure, life failure, loss of family, loss of freedom, loss of choice, jails, emergency rooms – and frankly you’re at the gate of insanity and death.
If you are there – then, why is it, I was able to recover – and you’re still trying to get it?
That was the question I began asking myself in early 1986. “Why is it, that those other people can recover – who seemed worse than me – but they’re staying sober? They’re staying off of drugs. They’re not drinking. They seem to have put their lives back together, they are happy, joyous and thriving in Life – while sober – and I can’t?”
It wasn’t because I wasn’t trying as hard to recover as they were. It appeared to me that I was trying much harder! When I would look at them and what they were doing – I was easily 10x-ing what THEY were doing! And I was wasted and wasting.
Often some jerk would walk up to me with a dumb-ass smile ear-to-ear and say something like “90 meetings in 90 days and don’t drink between meetings!” I felt like I wanted to take a baseball bat to his head and tell him “Hey dumb-ass… I’ve been going to 3, 4, and even 5 meetings a day – and I can’t even sit through one meeting without going outside for a nip or a snort to make it through the rest of one meeting without exploding like a nuclear bomb!
Or, someone would tell me – “Maybe you need to see a doctor or get medical and professional help.” “Oh yeah, right Einstein?” The doctors, professionals and emergency rooms were telling me “If you do what you’re did again – don’t waste my time by coming back – all I have for you is a body bag.”
So, what happened? Did I die and come back to life (again)? How did I get sober? How did I recreate my life? How did I find a way to recover, using the same books and same 12 Steps as other’s were using? Was it really ‘the same’ as they were doing?
I took different actions. I learned something at a depth that’s much deeper than what meets the eye and the mind – I tried it, I put it into action, and I got transformed.
If you’re interested in finding that discovery for yourself – you’ll keep coming back here and looking, and reading and searching – to find out what I did, and perhaps give it a try to see if it will work for you. I won’t make it hard to find. I’ll leave you plenty of clues.
I’ll close for now by saying “If you keep doing what you’re doing – and you like what you’re getting – keep doing it. And if you’re not happy with what you’re getting – be willing to change your mind.” I can tell you how to change your mind – but only you can take the actions that will do it. You can’t ‘think’ your way into changing your mind, and you can’t think yourself into sobriety – but there are certain actions you can take – that will change your mind for you.
It’s impossible to recover without a transformation of thought and attitude and actions. If you’re as seriously ill as I was — the only thing you have enough power to control is some of your actions. Not all — yet, but some to start with, that will lead you to the Power to change the one’s you can’t change on your own.
Dallas B.