For those of us who are alcoholics or addicts and new to recovery, we may not be aware of the spiritual principles behind the 12-Steps. Hopefully, we have seen how effective the 12-Steps are for people just like us, and we know the life-saving value that they offer. For those of us who are familiar with recovery, we likely know how much the 12-Steps can do for us. But even then, we may not have familiarized ourselves with the underlying principles of spirituality that are embodied in each of the 12-Steps and the program of recovery as a whole.
As we practice and work each of the 12-Steps with our sponsor, we are learning a new perspective, a new life skill, and adding a new tool to our spiritual toolbox — all of which better equips us to handle life with lovingness, serenity, and effectiveness. There are spiritual principles that underlie and bolster each of the 12-Steps (as well as the 12 Traditions and 12 Concepts).
As you work the 12-Steps in order from 1 to 12, you will learn about and experience firsthand these spiritual principles (in order): Honesty, Hope, Faith, Courage, Integrity, Willingness, Humility, Love, Discipline, Perseverance, Awareness, and Service. These principles are the unseen currents that transform our lives and guide us on our journey in recovery.
What are the Spiritual Principles of AA
The 12-Step program is not about stopping drinking or drug use—it’s about change. At its core, the program is based on spiritual principles that transform the way we live, think, and behave on the planet. They’re not theories; they’re do-it-yourself instructions for daily living. Let’s break down the spiritual principles of AA and use them in daily life.
Step 1: Honesty
“We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Step 1 is brutal honesty — with others and ourselves. It is admitting that we have a problem and looking at things the way they are, not the way we wish they were.
In everyday life: Honesty is not excusing or making excuses, owning up to mistakes, and telling the truth even if it hurts.
Step 2: Hope
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Hope makes us remember that there is hope that things will become better even if we are horrid.
Faith in real life: It is having the belief that things will become better and hanging around with individuals who have the same belief.
Step 3: Faith
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
This is a surrender step—release and belief in something higher than us.
Everyday living: Believe in the recovery process on rough days.
Step 4: Bravery
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
It takes courage to take an honest inventory of our past. It isn’t easy to face our flaws, regrets, and fears, but it’s what is needed in order to grow.
In daily life: Courage is doing what is right even though it is difficult, having uncomfortable conversations, and venturing out of our comfort zone.
Step 5: Integrity
“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Integrity is being truthful and accountable for our actions.
In daily life: It’s owning up to a mistake, apologizing where one is needed, and making decisions in accordance with our innermost values.
Step 6: Willingness
“We are willing to have God remove all these defects of character.”
Being willing, as opposed to wanting, is being open to change.
In everyday life: It is being open to learning, open-minded, and eager to improve personally.
Step 7: Humility
“Humbly asked Him to remove our defects.”
True humility is understanding we’re not the universe’s center and we still have so much to learn.
In everyday life: Humility is seeking help, listening more than speaking, and being open to criticism.
Step 8: Love
“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
This step is responsibility and love in action.
In everyday life: Love is expressed in kindness, patience, and restoring relationships with those we’ve harmed.
Step 9: Discipline
“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
Discipline is seeing it through, even when it’s hard. Making amends takes commitment and persistence.
In everyday life: It’s sticking with recovery habits, being present for others, and taking responsibility.
Step 10: Persistence
“Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
Recovery is a journey. Step 10 encourages us to keep learning and adjusting course as necessary.
In everyday life: Perseverance is to move ahead despite adversity, keep ourselves on the path, and never give up.
Step 11: Awareness
“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him.”
This step allows us to be spiritually aware and present.
In everyday life: Awareness is being present, being grateful, and being connected to our higher power.
Step 12: Service
“Having had a spiritual awakening as a consequence of these actions, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
Step 12 is giving back. Service keeps us grounded in recovery and teaches us where we are.
In everyday life: Being of service to others, serving others, and passing on experience.
Why We Practice the AA Spiritual Principles
The 12th-Step itself reads, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Practice is the first keyword that we’re going to focus on. We aren’t ever going to be perfect — nobody is. So we would do well to be forgiving to ourselves and others. Practice involves making a lot of mistakes. But as long as we seek out the lessons in our mistakes and they are teaching us and helping us get better, then they’re not really mistakes. They’re just good practice.
For most of us, our lives before recovery left us fairly unfamiliar with these spiritual principles at any real depth. So, of course, it’s going to take practice. All the program asks is that we “practice these principles in all our affairs.” That means we try, but it also means we try them all the time. There are no exemptions and no quitting if we hope to live long and happily in recovery. We practice the principles by working the 12-Steps on a consistent basis.
Defining “All”
We know that the 12th-Step asks us to practice these principles in all our affairs. Don’t we only need to do recovery stuff when we’re engaging with the recovery program? It might help to look at it this way — it’s unlikely there was any part of our lives that wasn’t negatively touched by our alcoholism and addiction. So it stands to reason that if our disease marked every part of our life, so should our solution. We aren’t only alcoholics or addicts when we’re in a meeting. We still have the disease whether we are visiting family, shopping at a grocery store, or going on a date. Likewise, we have a daily reprieve from this destructive disease that is contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Aside from attending meetings and being of service, we maintain our spiritual condition by working the 12-Steps. Practicing these principles “in all our affairs” is literally part of working the 12-Steps.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous puts it this way: “We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations, and affairs.” This essentially says that it’s great and necessary to practice the spiritual principles within recovery settings to maintain our recovery, but it is even more important to practice the spiritual principles outside of recovery environments. We demonstrate these principles by taking the lessons, insights, and tools that we acquire through working the 12-Steps into every single part of our internal world and everything we do in our daily lives.
Practical Ways to Practice The Spiritual Principles of AA
Recovery is not simply stopping the booze or drugs—it’s changing how we live. The 12-Step process provides us with spiritual principles in which to live, but we have to practice them daily in order to actually change. It’s simple to construct a deeper spiritual foundation, but it is effort. Here are some habits to help keep you plugged in in recovery and to your higher power.
Spend a few minutes in the morning connecting with your higher power and setting the tone for the day. If prayer is not in your background, do deep breathing, journaling gratitude, or just sit in silence. The point is to start the day on purpose, seeking guidance, strength, and the will to live out spiritual principles during the day.
2. Be Honest in All Your Conversations
Honesty is a spiritual quality that has to guide all conversation and decision-making. Honesty, no matter how tough it is, makes you dependable and strengthens your integrity. Owning up to mistakes and not excusing them keeps you on the right track. Honesty with yourself about your struggle and recovery process is as important as honesty with others.
3. Help Someone Every Day
Service is the key to recovery. Serving others keeps us from being selfish and reminds us of our position. It can be a call to a newcomer, being present for a friend, or a kindness to a stranger. Giving without expectation, not expecting something in return, teaches humility and appreciation, both of which are vital in long-term sobriety.
4. Take Personal Inventory Every Night
Reflection is a great recovery tool. Take a few minutes each evening to review your actions and choices. Ask yourself if you were being honest, patient, and humble. If you made a poor choice, take it on the chin and vow to do better the next day. Journaling three things you are thankful for every evening can also serve to shift your mind to the positive and concentrate on what is important.
5. Stay in Touch with Your Recovery Network
Alienation is dangerous when you’re recovering, so you have to stay plugged into other human beings. Showing up at meetings regularly, having a regular dialogue with your sponsor, and being part of a healthy support group can keep your feet on the ground. When you first feel like pulling back, try it out by reaching out instead. One of the best ways of staying spiritually and emotionally grounded is a good fellowship.
Emotional sobriety is just as important as physical sobriety. When something irritates you, take a breath first before you act. Say to yourself, “What is the spiritual response here?” Waiting and choosing a response instead of responding in an automatic way is a skill you can apply to any line of endeavor in life.
Shifting your thinking from “I have to” to “I get to” can change the way you live your life. There is always something to be thankful for, even on the worst of days. It does take slowing down to smell the roses, so to speak— noticing the good conversation, the good food, or a moment of stillness—to stay present and in the moment. Appreciation also grounds the bond of the relationship and makes you more aware of where you stand in the world.
8. Be Open to Grow and Change
Recovery is an ongoing process of development. Being willing to learn, painful as it is, is the requirement. Learning to accept censure and the understanding that the challenges are an opportunity for self-improvement can leave you at your wit’s end. Permitting yourself to accept to let go of wanting control and trusting the process of recovery.
9. Make Time for Reflection
Giving yourself time to think will keep you on the path to your own healing. Whether you keep a journal, pray, or engage in thoughtful conversations with others, taking time to review your actions and thoughts provides you time to consider where you are doing things correctly and where you need to do better. Spiritual development happens when you know you are making choices and deliberately seek to be guided by the principles that you have learned.
Build A Spiritual Foundation with Jaywalker
When we are living out of alignment with the 12-Step program and our higher power, our sponsor and our recovery community can help us get back on the beam. But when we are at work or at home, it’s just us, our higher power, and the spiritual principles. Choosing to leave out the spiritual foundation of our recovery from our “private” life could have disastrous consequences. After all, it’s all our life. Like a fish in water, there really is no separating our disease and its solution from any part of our lives. So we should try our best to practice applying these principles in all our affairs — everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.
Alcoholism and addiction are destructive in so many ways. Those of us who suffer from the disease often find ourselves missing out on learning the necessary skills and tools for life that we need to be the person we long to become. Our growth, development, and often our maturity in some areas get sidetracked by our all-consuming disease. Luckily, there is a solution, and it’s never too late to get on board. Any one of us can find ourselves restored to living, growing, and learning again. As we work the 12-Step program, we become subject to the necessary psychic change and vital spiritual experience that can help us find freedom and recovery. Once we have entered into a life of recovery, we are free and able to become the person we always wished we could be. At Jaywalker, we specialize in helping men who’ve had difficulty achieving and maintaining long-term sobriety. To learn more, call us now at (866) 445-1269.
