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Step Eleven Is For Warriors

by | Jun 1, 2023 | ACA Toolbox, ComLine

How to win? “Lack of power was our dilemma,” AA’s original program affirms. How do I solve that lack, in personal recovery? Isn’t that the point? Do I want to win? Here’s a strategy for non-toxic, productive power that martial artists use that can be applied in Step Eleven.


1. Have a game plan. Stop fighting the other person’s fight. Seeking “knowledge of ‘God’s Will’ for me” in Step Eleven is actively searching for and welcoming a role, a purpose, a personal responsibility in life, right now, just as I am. Wasn’t my sad old dilemma the result of being trapped in a dirty game I hadn’t agreed to play—by somebody else’s rules and scoring? In Step Eleven, I seek an ally—a Coach—that isn’t powerless, skill-less, or clueless! I seek a source of direction that’s reliable, and in my corner all the way. I seek knowledge of who I am, from my Coach’s point of view. Realistically and lovingly, I want to know, within my own heart and mind, what is my useful purpose here today? I seek a place to stand.

2. Create a visible scoreboard to keep track of points. If I am sticking to my game—working out of knowledge of my purpose—this isn’t shameful. In Step Eleven, I need to identify and discard, throw out, stop tolerating, all the lies I’ve previously accepted that are left-over rules from other people’s dirty games. My Personal Coach has much to teach me. Under healthy rules, how do I score up points? I need to make my recovery vision scoreboard visible—to me initially—but then also to those around me in fellowship who are interested and willing to join in, to play life’s games for non-vengeful, productive, and fulfilling purposes. It can be fun!

3. Set the game clock. “It isn’t over ‘til it’s over,” is a rule I’m free to design into my personal life games. If I am but one tiny person and my goal is to change the world, I can—quite realistically—feel hopeless, if I’ve set my game-clock to “By tomorrow morning, 8 AM.” My Personal Coach is skilled at gearing lessons that will gradually unfold along a timeframe necessary to achieve a worthy outcome. Some purposes seem open-ended.

Kathleen S

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