The Twelve Steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous: Step Twelve

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The result of living the steps is a transformed life. I have worked the steps; the steps have worked me. The transformation is spiritual in nature and is the direct result of consciously connecting with a Higher Power.

The awakening is one of awareness. Prior to recovery, I lived in a dazed stupor. I was unaware of how to live, how to think, how to be, how to grow as a person. The steps are the school for learning to be a loving, compassionate, alive human being. There is no graduation, no cap or gown. The steps continue to enlighten and illuminate my path to being and becoming and living.

The message is simple: My life is grand. I am learning each day, just how peaceful and serene my life can be through continuing the practice of the Twelve Steps.

Carrying the message is accomplished on many levels. Living the steps in all my actions and choices is one of my recovery goals. Before recovery, by nature, I lived in opposition to the principles of happiness and serenity. Through working the steps, I live in harmony with these principles, and the result is a life that overflows with abundant serenity and peace.

I am learning to practice the principles of the program on a minute-by-minute, second-nature basis. Just as learning to play the piano requires constant practice, so, living the steps requires a commitment to diligent, focused, constant, practice. The steps continue to expand my knowledge of myself and how their principles apply to my life and my situation today.

The principles are: Serenely accepting what I cannot change; courageously changing what I can. Through the program, God grants me the wisdom to know the difference.

I also gain the knowledge and the tools to intuitively apply these principles in all my affairs. Every life situation is different. Every day is different. Life is full of surprises. Life is neither good nor bad; how I respond to what life presents is within my control—I decide whether events in my life are good or bad. I am learning to choose a good life for myself, because I have grown to love myself.

Perhaps most importantly, I have learned to accept myself, and to accept the process through which God can best change me.

By the grace and the will of God, I am a grateful, recovering co-dependent.

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