The 12 Steps are divided into 3 groups of Steps:  there are Steps 1 - 3, which are the Steps in which we admit that we have not been living in effective ways, ways that work and we come to believe that there is a loving God that can guide us into a better way of living and who takes up the slack when even the better ways fall short. Step 3 means that we stop doing things our way and start listening and being guided by God. Step 3 does not mean that we just sit back like infants who can do nothing and let God take care of them and everything else in their lives. Steps 4 - 9 are when we take a look at the things that we have been doing that were counterproductive and start cleaning house and getting our act together. The amends are corrective measures that we make once we know better than we did before and can correct things. With the completion of these Steps, 4 - 9, we are ready to beging a new life, a God centered life, as we understood Him. Steps 10, 11 and 12 are the Steps which bring us to actually living a life as God's child, applying the new principles we have learned, and being open to being God inspired as we move ahead now on the recovery journey.

Steps 1 - 9 do not call for ongoing action. Step 4 is a look at the past. It is Step 10 that is an ongoing reality check. It is like a pin-ball machine's 'tilt' warning. It is like a routine dental check-up. It is like the 1,000 mile maintenance check-up of our vehicle. While we were drinking we were pretty oblivious to how we were coming across to other people, and to the consequences of what we were doing and we bumped into a lot of things without understanding why or how we got there, or how to straighten things out. Our lives are on hold while we do the first 9 Steps, but with Step 10 we start living our new lives in recovery. Step 11 is the Step we need to do after we have done Step 3 and made a decision to let God guide our lives. We need to listen to God's guidance. What is God's will that we are making ours? Step 11 tells us. How is God's care made concrete? God inspires us with how he wants us to participate in His caring plan for us as he unveils His plan for us. This takes prayer and meditation - talking to God and listening. We are partners with God on our recovery journey. Step 12 is the culmination of the rest,, and the longest chapter in the 12X12 book. Step 10, though necessary in an ongoing way, is not an action Step but a thinking Step. Step 11 is not an action Step. Step 12 is THE action Step - we practice these principles in all our affairs. We may think that even after a couple of years in the program we are still not ready for Step 12, but we have been living for those 2 years, not staying in bed. We have need to deal with daily life, so Step 12 cannot really be put off. We practice something in all our affairs, and we give some kind of message to others. I am finding out that we never come to be really 'qualified' to do an expert Step 12. We don't graduate like a law student does who can show his certificate proving his capability to practice law,,  or like a doctor, finished with his interneship,,  though we can say that the AA group itself is where we do our internships with each other and get feedback for even more development.  Step 12 is like inservice training....  we learn as we go. If we stop at Step 3, thinking that God and/or caretakers are going to take care of us without us doing our parts, we are going to find out that our lives are still unmanageable because we are not doing our part in manageing them. Step 12 is about us practicing the principles in our daily lives even more than it is about carrying the message to others. We cannot give what we don't have if we are trying to give to others a message of a way of life that we are not living ourselves. But in living this way of live ourselves, and practicing these principles in all our affairs we are carrying the message without even saying anything. Our suggestions are in our examples.  Of course this is an ideal, these are all ideals, and no one lives up to ideals perfectly,,,   progress and not perfection.

"Do your best and God does the rest"