Minor snag. I had to gut portions of the book as they contained some personal experiences other than my own. While the current edit is a bit shorter, I’m not going to sit here and try to fill it back up, which doesn’t usually work anyway. As well, I’m sure the book would be much better if I was a full-time writer, but hey, we do what we can. After this, I am going to try to finish another book that I started years ago, which is fiction. It is the long version of a short story I wrote back in college.
At any rate, the book will be out soon and I hope it’s useful. It is just a universal Twelve Step guide, so don’t expect too much. Even though I am a pretty harsh judge of my own writing and try to edit stuff properly, I hope each chapter is novel and not too repetitive. Some of the individual Steps are fairly quick and straightforward, so I tried to fill the gap without being excessive and indulgent.
Finally, the book will be available on lulu initially (I’ll write a post with links and stuff), and then on Amazon and everywhere else in about a month. I would be so grateful if you could come back to review it later on Amazon, and also go to Amazon to review The Privileged Addict, if you enjoyed that as well. Below is the new (and much shortened) introduction (or I guess preface might be more appropriate at this point), which might change again like five times 😉
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ANYBODY CAN TAKE STEPS
INTRODUCTION
Anybody can take Steps, not just alcoholics and addicts. We are told to carry this message to others who suffer from addiction, but what about everybody else? Why hoard a process that can induce miracles? Shouldn’t everybody have access to these powerful and life-changing tools? Shouldn’t those we love feel the relief and serenity that we have procured for ourselves?
Letting go is a miracle. Once our basic needs are met, this is the secret to inner peace and happiness. If we can mentally/emotionally let go of all that is around us and inside of us, we can accept everything. We will have touched the great voice within and thus, the power of God. We can then touch the fabric of our universe and it is in this harmony that we continue to expand, know ourselves and give back. We’ll get more into letting go in Chapters 3 and 11, but to experience this inner evolution is something you do not want to miss.
While there are many ways to achieve our ultimate goal of peace, the Steps harness timeless wisdom and universal spiritual principles that we see at the core of any serious religious tradition based on love, faith and humility. The Steps then take this wisdom and apply these principles into practical actions such as writing inventory, making amends, praying, meditating and working with others. As such, they can be used by anyone to elicit both internal and external change.
The Twelve Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous was inspired by the Oxford Group, a Christian-based spiritual group that promoted the tenets of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love, known as The Four Absolutes. The program also involved four simple steps of admitting our wrongs, surrendering to God, making restitution and carrying out God’s will. Bill Wilson expanded these Steps when he conceived of the Twelve Step program for alcoholism, but you don’t need to be an alcoholic or a drug addict to take them or use them to effect real, lasting change and personal growth. Anyone can take Steps for any number of reasons, and we can all have a spiritual experience. I believe our world would become a more enlightened and mature place if we all took it upon ourselves to embark on some variation of this timeless program.
In this book, I will analyze each of the Twelve Steps based on my own knowledge and experience, breaking them down to uncover how they can relate to anybody who may be suffering or powerless over, well, anything. Furthermore, I will describe how to take these Steps if I were a non-alcoholic or non-addict. My hope is that you will see how these spiritual tools can be used to achieve universal catharsis. More importantly, I want you to learn how to use the Steps to recover from what ails you, be it anger, rage, depression, anxiety, boredom, codependency, mental illness, personality disorders, narcissism, eating disorders, gambling, spiritual angst, lack of purpose, physical pain, or just the plain old blues. And the truth is that we don’t need to be suffering at all to enjoy the fruits of the Twelve Steps. Actively growing and evolving through right action and accountability is always a good thing. In fact, working on ourselves is a basic human responsibility. Don’t the people in our lives deserve that we continue getting better? Doesn’t the whole world deserve the same? And don’t we owe it to ourselves to do what we can to sleep well at night?
Every morning I ask God to help make me a better man. I continue to take Steps in order to fulfill this prayer. Compared to the absolute nightmare I once was, the Steps have helped me become a more honest person. They have helped me to remove unhealthy and excessive selfishness. They have helped me to remove anger, fear and resentment. They have helped me to get outside of myself and think about others once in a while. They have given me the willingness to serve and to continue growing along spiritual lines. They have given me purpose and meaning. Best of all, the Twelve Steps have given me a way to always be okay, rain or shine. It doesn’t matter so much anymore when life throws me great challenges. Because of the work I’ve done in the Steps and the resulting relationship I now have with God, I finally have some peace. I am free.
Trust me, there is nothing better in this world than simply being okay.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that you had to gut parts of your book – I really enjoyed the chapters you'd already posted on your blog. I hope you didn't have to remove *too* much. However, I am still looking forward to your book coming out, for sure. Keep up the good work Charlie! 🙂
Fortunately there is not too much missing from the Step chapters 😉 Thanks, Charlotte!
so looking forward to this charlie…x
so looking forward to this charlie…x
You are the best, Janet… xo
I can't wait to read this one! I think I did review your first one on Amazon but I am going to check right now and if not I will. Blake is 4 months sober. Has a Sponsor that he loves and doing pretty well.
Tori, that is AWESOME news! Very happy to hear and will be definitely praying for Blake. It is always darkest just before sunrise, isn't it? And in life too, the moment things seem insurmountable and hopeless, there you are at the top suddenly looking down instead. Good to see you! xo