Step 2 - "We Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity"

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Virtue: Hope

Grandiosity changes into a Sense of Limitations.

HP = Higher Power

Read first: spirituality.

Who is my HP?

The addiction had become our God. Our soul. Our dear friend. Our primary relationship.

For some of us, every act was related to our addiction. Sex was the most important thing.

Coming to Believe

Book: "Answers In the Heart"

"Working this Step takes patience because it is a process, sometimes a long one. Coming to believe doesn't mean embracing a body of intellectual beliefs; it means beginning to find faith, which is entirely different from intellectual belief. Before we can have faith, we must have hope. This Step provides that."

Asking for Help

"Asking for Help A Practical Guide to Working Step 2"

"...This step is not about religion. It is about behavior and hope. Beliefs are not the verbal statement we make about what we think is true ... Beliefs are the ways in which we make decisions... To come to believe that a power outside ourselves means that we waited to take different actions...

This step is very difficult for addicts. Not because of the intellectual agreement needed for a power greater than myself. This step is difficult as it requires reaching out of myself rather than relying on my own skills.."

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I can't merely say "yes I believe in a Higher Power" and move on. I need to reach for my Higher Power through daily prayer (multiple times a day) until I have a practice and connection (attachment) to my Higher Power.

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• What was the religion that your family of origin practiced or claimed to be a part of?
• List the positive and negative aspects as you see it of your family’s religion.
• Have you made a break with your family's religion or have you stayed with it? Explain why you have taken your particular course of action.
• What other people have helped you to see the unmanageability of your life? Do they believe in a Higher Power and if so describe their belief as far as you know of it.
• Recall some of your best friends from childhood or adolescence. Describe what you liked best about them and what they liked best about you? Do you think that these qualities have any relationship to a Higher Power? Explain.

• What have been your previous experiences with religion? How do think that this does or does not relate to your experience with God as you understand God.

See also:

• Spirituality

Last update: Thursday, November 08, 2007.  Feedback - send an email to: