I have a hard time picturing a higher power (HP) while attending OA and learning about the steps. I was thinking that my HP could be the OA fellowship, since I really can’t believe in a higher power, other than the laws of physics. I think I like these versions of the steps better that the ones that actually mention God or a Higher Power (compiled from the blog of Bellwood Health Services):
Agnostics AA 12 Steps
Roger C. (2012). The Little Book. A Collection of Alternative 12 Steps, (11)
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe and to accept that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to ourselves without reservation and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character.
- With humility and openness sought to eliminate our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
- Sought through meditation to improve our spiritual awareness and our understanding of the AA way of life and to discover the power to carry out that way of life.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Humanist Twelve Steps
Roger C. (2012). The Little Book. A Collection of Alternative 12 Steps, (13)
Renowned behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner’s 12-Step version first published in “The Humanist” (1987).
- We accept the fact that all our efforts to stop drinking have failed.
- We believe that we must turn elsewhere for help.
- We turn to our fellow men and women, particularly those who have struggled with the same problem.
- We have made a list of the situations in which we are most likely to drink.
- We ask our friends to help us avoid these situations.
- We are ready to accept the help they give us.
- We earnestly hope that they will help.
- We have made a list of the persons we have harmed and to whom we hope to make amends.
- We shall do all we can to make amends, in any way that will not cause further harm.
- We will continue to make such lists and revise them as needed.
- We appreciate what our friends have done and are doing to help us.
- We, in turn, are ready to help others who may come to us in the same way.
So re-written for overeating the agnostic OA steps would be (based on Roger C (2012)):
Agnostics OA 12 Steps
- We admitted we were powerless over food—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe and to accept that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to ourselves without reservation and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character.
- With humility and openness sought to eliminate our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
- Sought through meditation to improve our spiritual awareness and our understanding of the OA way of life and to discover the power to carry out that way of life.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other over eaters, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
I found your blog today after a google search for OA. This is exactly what I needed today. I am just starting OA myself and blogging about it. I am new, but I am really struggling with the higher power bit. Here’s my blog in case you’re interested: http://saveserve.blogspot.com/
I’ll check it out! Wow, I didn’t know my blog would come up high enough in a google search…