Stop Doing Step One and Start Experiencing It
“You don’t do Step One; you experience Step One.”
There was a lot of doing before Step One. But when we reach it, we stop doing and start other processes.
Before Step One, we must hit our bottom; for this, we do a lot. The list of doings is long: drinking and driving, divorcing, jail, losing jobs, losing careers, and on it goes.
We are inventive in finding things to do to reach our bottom.
Like heat-seeking missiles, we find the worst things to do, the worst people to know, and the most dangerous thoughts to think. These are the things we ‘do’ to reach the beginning of Step One; once we have arrived, we ‘experience’ Step One rather than ‘doing’ it. The doing is over.
The language of Step One is precise. We don’t do something; we admit something. We admit to what we have done.
Admission is recognizing and seeing my situation and circumstances honestly, connecting the dots, connecting my drinking or other problematic behaviours to my problems, my unmanageable issues. Admitting is acknowledging the truth about myself. Admitting is conceding the truth.
These are not actions; these are not things I do. They are things I see, perceive, and experience.
Step One experiences must be powerful. When we experience a bottom that lacks power, we go back and dig deeper until we experience one with enough power to make us want to change. We need power in our bottoming experience.
So stop doing Step One; you have done enough. Experience Step One. Live it and love it.
And if possible, do it once.
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