Due to the popularity of the previous 4 part series on
the teachings of Abraham-Hicks
(thank you for this blog's second award:
The Versatile Blogger Award
and over 100,000 views for this series!!!)
We present:
Abraham's reinterpretation of the 12 Step program!
Abraham's reinterpretation of the 12 Step program!
There has always seemed to me to be something fundamentally incorrect about the traditional 12-Step program. I think it's that whole "I am powerless" thing mostly, but there are other things that don't ring true to me as well. However, they have helped a lot of people and anything that works for even one person, I would not discourage. But, to me, it's always seemed like it was in the right general direction, but not quite there.
I came across the 12 Step Program reinterpreted by Abraham and said, "That's it!" It absolutely nailed everything that didn't resonate or "sit well" with me about the original 12 steps and then reinterpreted them. At the same time, in no way discounting the fact that many people are helped by the original set of steps, we don't "throw them out", but rather add a second set of 12 to them.
Abraham explains that the reason the first 12 steps do work (at first!) is because it's a better feeling place than where an addict is coming to it from. But after a while, as the steps begin to work, the person advances while the steps stay the same and when the individual advances beyond the steps, their recovery progresses to the point where they are more aligned with their higher self, who knows better than this.
In summary: When the original 12 steps are a better feeling place than where the individual is coming from (in the beginning), they work. As the recovery begins and progresses the 12 steps are a worse feeling place than where the individual is coming from and they no longer work. That's why, often they work for a while and then don't anymore!
Below is a direct transcript taken from an Abraham-Hicks workshop. The above is my synopsis...for those who are not as familiar with the way Abraham phrases things and may want a "lay-person's" version!
Abraham: …we are not at all pushing against, in any way, the 12-step
program because for someone whose life is in a very unpleasant place, all of
those steps are downstream.
In other words, when
you feel totally out of control, maybe it does feel downstream for you to admit
that you’re out of control. And to say, "I hope that there’s something,
some power that’s greater than me that will help me" when your life is
in a mess that’s the last moment in time that you really want to crow about how
in control you are. So, acknowledging that you are powerless is a downstream
step. You see what we are getting at?
What we’ve noticed about the program, and
we’ve interacted with so many people who have been part of it, is that in the
beginning it is all downstream for them. But after a little while, when they
begin gaining their balance, to say those same things are upstream for them. So
it never really gives them the autonomy and self-control that they are all
reaching for.
Every single one of them felt not free when they began this
process that evolved into the alcoholism. In other words, you’re right, they
turn to the alcohol or whatever it was because it seemed like a path of least
resistance. It felt better to them than where they were. And there is something
that we would like somebody to say to them about the rightness of that
decision. But the whole program, and in fact almost everybody ever involved in
it, stands and says something else to them. They stand and say, ‘you were wrong
to do what you did, you were not wise in what you were doing, and you should
never, ever do something again.’
It’s sort of like...when a person feels not free, and they innately and
naturally turn toward anger, that anger that they turn toward is the most
natural thing in the world, but almost everybody would stop and say, ‘your
anger is wrong, your anger is misplaced.’
So when you’re interacting with
people that are experiencing the hugeness of disconnection, it’s not an easy
thing for you to teach them the principles from their place of strong
disconnection. Something more overt and in-their-face is necessary and it is
easier to teach someone about action than it is to teach them about vibration. In an action oriented world, it’s easier to say to them, "this alcohol is your
problem" than "your vibrational countenance is your problem."
First, let's take a look at the original 12 Steps:
And now:
We
would introduce the 12 Step program as the first 12 steps, and we would tell
them there are 12 more. And the first 12 steps are about the action part of
distancing yourself from something that hasn’t been working. And then, once
you’ve sort of got that under your belt, then we would begin the next 12 steps,
which would be about understanding that you are the creator of your own reality.
~ The Next 12 Steps ~
1. While you’ve been saying in the first 12 Steps that there is a power that is greater than you, there has never been a power that is greater than you. You just somehow separated yourself from that greater power. But it never left you. It never was forsaking you. It was always aware of you, reaching for you, calling you toward it. You just could not hear. But it was always there.
2. The second of the next 12 Steps would be: You are the creator of your own experience, and you are doing the best that you knew how to do, every step along the way. You did the best from where you were that you could have done. And you can’t go back and undo all of that. So now you have admitted all of that wrong doing, and now you’ve made your peace with all of those people who you have wronged. This new second step says, I did the best that I could do then, and now I’m in a better place, and it will be easier this go-around.
3. The third thing in this new set of steps is: I am where I am. I am where I am, and where I am is all right, because it has to be, because it’s the only choice I have. If where I am is not all right, then it’s over for me. If where I am is not all right, then there’s nothing else for me to do, because I can’t get to where I want to be when I am condemning where I am. Not possible. You can’t possibly turn downstream in condemnation of where you are. So, I am where I am, and where I am not only is enough. It must be enough, because it’s all I’ve got.
4. The fourth step is: I am a worthy being, who is an extension of Source Energy, and I came forth with powerful intention, and got crossways of it. And when I got crossways of it, I went nuts, because who I am is such a lover, and such a knower of my own value. And when, somehow along my physical trail, I lost sight of that, I could not abide in my own vibration. The split in me was too severe, and that’s the reason I turned to something that was numbing. And while I will not turn to something that is numbing again, it is satisfying to know that when someone like me, who is pure positive energy, gets crossways of who I am, that it’s going to be
pain beyond pain that will require numbing, and I’ve never known anyone who would deny anyone some sort of a solution or solving of some kind of pain.
5. Step five says: I will make peace with those who did not understand how I felt. For how could they? Everyone has their own emotional scale. Nobody could know what was downstream for me. Nobody could know what was a solution for me. And they all stood in such certainty that they were right, when they couldn’t possibly know. And so this fifth step, in my second set of steps, is my true acknowledgment of my powerful desire to forgive them. The first [set of steps] demanded that I ask for their forgiveness. In this second [set of steps], I’m prepared to give them my forgiveness. I forgive them for not understanding me. I forgive them for trying to be my guidance when they could not. I forgive them for not paying attention to how they felt, so there was no way they could teach me how to pay attention to how I felt. I forgive them for not upholding the knowledge of the personal guidance system. I forgive them for everything that they did not understand about me. And it feels good in letting all of that go.
6. The sixth step is: I forgive all of them from this new point of view. I forgive them for not only not seeing me as I am, but for not seeing themselves as they are either. I allow them, which is more than forgiving. I allow them to be whoever they are, even if who they are being is critical of me. For I accept that they cannot see me accurately from their point of view, and I no longer need alcohol or drugs to numb the discord that I felt when I saw that I could not achieve their approval. I am giving up my need for your approval in this step. And in giving up my need for
your approval, I have set you free. But more important, I have set myself free.
7. The seventh step in this second set of 12 steps is: Now that I am more sure of who I am, and now that I’m beginning to return to the eagerness of life that is innate within me, it is my promise to myself that even if I were to do something that formerly I thought was a mistake, that I’m determined that I will offer no self-condemnation, ever again. This may be the most important step of all.
8. I acknowledge that the Source within me never gives up on me, and the only reason I ever feel bad is because I do. So in this step, I am pronouncing to the world that I am absolving myself of all guilt relative to action. And if I should – and it could happen – ever take a drink again, it is my promise to myself: I’m not going back through those first twelve steps. Because I am where I am, and because Source continues to adore me, and because there’s always downstream from wherever I am, and I don’t have to start over every time again. I know too much. I’ve come too far.
9. The next step in the second set of 12 steps is sincere appreciation for the first 12 Steps, because they were there for me when I most needed them. I could not even begin to see this second set from where I was, and there they were, tangible and real, and they helped me. They don’t now, but they did then. They were bridges that were valuable, and I will feel eternal appreciation for their existence.
10. I am appreciating everything that ever gave me grief, because from it was born clarity of desire. I’m not sorry for one thing that I ever lived through. I’m not even sorry for what I put you through, because in my dealing with the contrast of the life that I created, I’ve launched rockets of desire, and I can feel a brighter future that would not be there if it had not been for that.
11. The 11th step is: I encourage no one to go through what I went through in order to get where I am. I acknowledge it could have been easier for me. If I had been willing to pay attention to the way I feel, if I’d listened to my own guidance, if I’d been able to turn downstream earlier on, without being pinned into that corner of feeling not free, I could have turned into my alignment and my allowing without the help or the aid of the drugs.
12. The last and final step is: I adore knowing that I am the creator of my own reality. And I take full credit – not responsibility – I take full credit for the amazing life that I am in the process of creating. I aspire to see myself through the eyes of Source. And I think all 24 steps are part of me being able to now do that.
And now, I would like to announce to the world: I am healed, I am whole, I am free, I am love.
And it might be only temporary, but if I ever slip from it, I know exactly what to do.
~ The Next 12 Steps ~
1. While you’ve been saying in the first 12 Steps that there is a power that is greater than you, there has never been a power that is greater than you. You just somehow separated yourself from that greater power. But it never left you. It never was forsaking you. It was always aware of you, reaching for you, calling you toward it. You just could not hear. But it was always there.
2. The second of the next 12 Steps would be: You are the creator of your own experience, and you are doing the best that you knew how to do, every step along the way. You did the best from where you were that you could have done. And you can’t go back and undo all of that. So now you have admitted all of that wrong doing, and now you’ve made your peace with all of those people who you have wronged. This new second step says, I did the best that I could do then, and now I’m in a better place, and it will be easier this go-around.
3. The third thing in this new set of steps is: I am where I am. I am where I am, and where I am is all right, because it has to be, because it’s the only choice I have. If where I am is not all right, then it’s over for me. If where I am is not all right, then there’s nothing else for me to do, because I can’t get to where I want to be when I am condemning where I am. Not possible. You can’t possibly turn downstream in condemnation of where you are. So, I am where I am, and where I am not only is enough. It must be enough, because it’s all I’ve got.
4. The fourth step is: I am a worthy being, who is an extension of Source Energy, and I came forth with powerful intention, and got crossways of it. And when I got crossways of it, I went nuts, because who I am is such a lover, and such a knower of my own value. And when, somehow along my physical trail, I lost sight of that, I could not abide in my own vibration. The split in me was too severe, and that’s the reason I turned to something that was numbing. And while I will not turn to something that is numbing again, it is satisfying to know that when someone like me, who is pure positive energy, gets crossways of who I am, that it’s going to be
pain beyond pain that will require numbing, and I’ve never known anyone who would deny anyone some sort of a solution or solving of some kind of pain.
5. Step five says: I will make peace with those who did not understand how I felt. For how could they? Everyone has their own emotional scale. Nobody could know what was downstream for me. Nobody could know what was a solution for me. And they all stood in such certainty that they were right, when they couldn’t possibly know. And so this fifth step, in my second set of steps, is my true acknowledgment of my powerful desire to forgive them. The first [set of steps] demanded that I ask for their forgiveness. In this second [set of steps], I’m prepared to give them my forgiveness. I forgive them for not understanding me. I forgive them for trying to be my guidance when they could not. I forgive them for not paying attention to how they felt, so there was no way they could teach me how to pay attention to how I felt. I forgive them for not upholding the knowledge of the personal guidance system. I forgive them for everything that they did not understand about me. And it feels good in letting all of that go.
6. The sixth step is: I forgive all of them from this new point of view. I forgive them for not only not seeing me as I am, but for not seeing themselves as they are either. I allow them, which is more than forgiving. I allow them to be whoever they are, even if who they are being is critical of me. For I accept that they cannot see me accurately from their point of view, and I no longer need alcohol or drugs to numb the discord that I felt when I saw that I could not achieve their approval. I am giving up my need for your approval in this step. And in giving up my need for
your approval, I have set you free. But more important, I have set myself free.
7. The seventh step in this second set of 12 steps is: Now that I am more sure of who I am, and now that I’m beginning to return to the eagerness of life that is innate within me, it is my promise to myself that even if I were to do something that formerly I thought was a mistake, that I’m determined that I will offer no self-condemnation, ever again. This may be the most important step of all.
8. I acknowledge that the Source within me never gives up on me, and the only reason I ever feel bad is because I do. So in this step, I am pronouncing to the world that I am absolving myself of all guilt relative to action. And if I should – and it could happen – ever take a drink again, it is my promise to myself: I’m not going back through those first twelve steps. Because I am where I am, and because Source continues to adore me, and because there’s always downstream from wherever I am, and I don’t have to start over every time again. I know too much. I’ve come too far.
9. The next step in the second set of 12 steps is sincere appreciation for the first 12 Steps, because they were there for me when I most needed them. I could not even begin to see this second set from where I was, and there they were, tangible and real, and they helped me. They don’t now, but they did then. They were bridges that were valuable, and I will feel eternal appreciation for their existence.
10. I am appreciating everything that ever gave me grief, because from it was born clarity of desire. I’m not sorry for one thing that I ever lived through. I’m not even sorry for what I put you through, because in my dealing with the contrast of the life that I created, I’ve launched rockets of desire, and I can feel a brighter future that would not be there if it had not been for that.
11. The 11th step is: I encourage no one to go through what I went through in order to get where I am. I acknowledge it could have been easier for me. If I had been willing to pay attention to the way I feel, if I’d listened to my own guidance, if I’d been able to turn downstream earlier on, without being pinned into that corner of feeling not free, I could have turned into my alignment and my allowing without the help or the aid of the drugs.
12. The last and final step is: I adore knowing that I am the creator of my own reality. And I take full credit – not responsibility – I take full credit for the amazing life that I am in the process of creating. I aspire to see myself through the eyes of Source. And I think all 24 steps are part of me being able to now do that.
And now, I would like to announce to the world: I am healed, I am whole, I am free, I am love.
And it might be only temporary, but if I ever slip from it, I know exactly what to do.
You knew I'd have videos!
These are really very good - please watch!
These are really very good - please watch!
Abraham's "New Take on the 12 Steps" - Video :
Links to purchase Abraham-Hicks Beyond the 12 Steps: Breaking Free of Addiction program - available on DVD as well as Audio CD
