There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that if you want a spiritual awakening through the 12 Steps, there’s nothing anybody can do to stop you from taking the actions that the steps indicate. The bad news is that you are unlikely to take the actions without the support of at least one other person.

Many sponsors and many sponsees slow the awakening down. Many recovering people say that the steps become a way of life, which can be an excuse to stop any awakening dead in its tracks.

There are many ways of slowing down or stopping the step work. Many people slow down when they are acting out in another area and aren’t willing to talk about it yet. Many people slow down because they are in emotional pain and imagine they need time to “process” it. What they need, generally speaking, is step work to resolve it.

The common places people stop step work altogether are at step three (by not making a decision to turn the will and life over - that is, unwillingness), at step four (by not being willing to see things in a new way - aka close-mindedness) and at step nine (by not being willing to consider setting straight their problems with other humans - a basic dishonesty considering the harm we have done others and self).

Commonly in step workshops the audience will decrease in size after Steps 3, 4, and 9, and this is considered by presenters a sign that things are working. The failure of willingness at step 9, open-mindedness and step 4, and honesty and courage at step 3 is palpable and fairly universal with step work. I believe by letting people know up front about the obstacles, they can take responsibility for their own recovery and determine to be different.

A sponsor can overcome all these problems, usually with ease. Having been through the process, we can often explain things in a new way and make sense of them. The trick is putting yourself in their way so they know when you need help. Some suggestions that have helped:

- Get into the habit of ringing your sponsor when things are okay.

- Get into the habit of ringing your sponsor when things are bag or in crisis.

- Get into the habit of ringing others, not just your sponsor, who have worked all twelve steps and are happy.

If you are known you can be helped. It’s that simple.

I said before that nobody can stop you from taking the actions of the steps. No-one can stop you from an awakening of the spirit. No-one can stop you from getting inspired. But you can stop yourself, easily: you only to avoid the actions of the twelve steps. You can avoid the actions of the steps this by feeling an emotional process, thinking about theories, or keeping up appearances of pride and prestige. Or you can take the damn actions and get free.

What is the action of the first step?

The actions of step one are two-fold. The first action of step one is: stop the addictive pattern. Stop drinking, drugging, sexing, gossiping, gambling. Whatever your addiction is, stop.

The second action of step one is the awakening action. The second act of step one is to walk in pain. Share it, talk about it, feel it. Live in it. Move through it. Let go into it.

Pain is not suffering. It will not kill you. And the pain of step one is the first sign of awakening. It is a sign you are alive. It is the body and emotion beginning to wake up. It must be experienced out in step one. Experiencing the inevitable pain of existence is the exact action of step one.

Step one can be so hard for many people to take a second time after they have relapsed. It is easy to suffer pain when you are told that you will experience inspiration and joy and wholeness and connection at the end of the process. But if you have taken the action of step one, suffering pain for weeks or sometimes even years, and not had a spiritual awakening, it is more difficult to believe you can get freedom the second time you take step one.

The opposite experience is also true: it will be discovered that by embracing a new experience of step one, you can find incredible growth, joy and freedom in all areas of life. For example, if I have worked the steps on drug addiction and got free of that, I can decide to work the steps on food and fitness. I can accept the pain of healthy food, the craving for junk food, and the pain of exercise and new habits, and by embracing that pain I can have a new experience of step one. Any time I want rapid and dynamic growth and change in my life, I must become aware of and willing to experience the pain of a new step one experience.

To summarize then:

- The actions of step one are two-fold: to stop using, and to start facing the pain of living clean.

- The actions of step one becomes easier to complete when we learn about the goal - the inspiration, joy, and awakening of step twelve.

- The actions of step one become easier when we accept the obstacles to the goal. The obstacles are:

1, the unwillingness to take step three,

2. the close-mindedness to take step four, and

3. the dishonesty and lack of courage to take step nine.

- The actions of the 12 steps are unlikely to be taken unless you have someone to support and encourage you.

- By accepting responsibility for the goal and by acknowledging these obstacles, you are empowered to fully surrender to the program of recovery.

By working Step One we are beginning to wake up. We wake up physically by stopping using drugs, people and addictive processes. We wake up emotionally by feeling pain and sharing it. We wake up to our unmanageability by talking about our mental suffering.

Now, none of these awakenings sound very inviting, does it?

Can anyone be blamed that they do not continue on to Step Two, when being awake means having to experience life without numbing substances and habits, with emotional pain, and with mental suffering?

I do not blame them; I simply offer the way free.

The way free is spiritual in nature. To say the 12 Steps have a spiritual aspect is like saying the ocean has a wet bit. Spiritual means inspiring, whole, functional, dynamic and creative. Spiritual means being awake! 

So the solution to the mental, emotional, and physical rude awakenings of Step One must be spiritual in nature. You must figure out a way to become inspired, in-spirit, if you are to keep a dynamic living experience of Step One. If you cannot open to inspiration, you cannot keep nor pass on Step One to another.

Inspiration cannot be faked, but it can be taught. Nothing will change your brain more than becoming inspired and grateful. It is said that a grateful addict never busts but very rarely reported how to get and stay grateful and inspired. This exercise reveals the source of inspiration and gratitude.

This source is reliable and stable. It never changes. It never goes away. It is always present, all around you. This source of inspiration is not outside you, either; it is to be found in you, and it is just waiting for you to say the word and be willing to take the actions that result, in order to experience inspired living.

The beautiful man who began Narcotics Anonymous Jimmy Kinnon said the words and took the actions of inspiration each day. Many elders and wise people say and do them every day. Many of our sponsors and sages say and do them.

Because the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text (NABT) so far has lacked a chapter on twelfth step work, these words have been largely lost to the Narcotics Anonymous community of practice. But they are essential, they are crucial, they are irreplaceable to being able to live free of addiction!

I will give the simple version first. Here it is:

God, please send me someone to help today.

The exercise is: say the words and pay attention, then, when the opportunity comes, act.

For example. Today I went out with a map of the city, with the intention that I would like to explore some new part of my home city if I had the time. I didn’t have the time, but I did find a girl who was lost and needed a map today. She was too anxious at being lost to read it herself, so I read the map and gave her directions.

Now, the day that unfolded after that was just great. Coincidence? 

Helping changes your brain. Helping gives pleasure. Helping benefits the helper, the helped, and any witness to the act of helping. Helping connects you to your own inner source of Power.

Let’s look at some other versions of this exercise. I mentioned Jimmy Kinnon before. Here is his version:

God, please send me someone who really wants this program, even just for a few hours.

 Another wise elder said: God, please let your love flow through me and into the lives of others.

I like to say, God help me carry your holy message in all my thoughts, acts and relationships today.

But my favorite remains from James R because it is so straight and simple:

God, please send me someone to help today.

If you try this, I promise you that you will find relief from your mental, emotional and physical distress. When nothing else will work to change the brain from its self-destructive tendencies, helping will always release creative power.

This exercise has only one downside: helping others can be addictive. The Source of the joy and pleasure is within your spirit, not in the people you help. 

Because we are born to care for one another, because we are social animals, because the isolation of addiction is so bitter, this prayer is the most direct, powerful and sophisticated way to change the human brain.

What is 8YSTEM? It is a dynamic way of approaching, integrating and sharing the living experience of Being Awake.

So what is NABT? NABT stands for the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text.

What you now read here is a dynamic system of awakening which I call 8YSTEM which uses the NABT: