Friday, April 26, 2024

Roads to recovery: Step by step


As a public service, NEWS of the WORLD reprints The FUNNY STUFF FUNNIES, an educational comic book giving basic facts on drugs and alcohol. Each post reproduces a page from the booklet, which is aimed at young persons and which avoids sermonizing and excessive wordiness.

XXIII
Tap phone images for better views.
RY1
The steps suggested for recovery are virtually identical for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. But, the two programs differ a bit in their approaches to recovery. The NA website lists other 12-step programs for various stressful problems.
The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. They can be found at the beginning of the chapter “How It Works.” Essays on the Steps can be read in the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

The Twelve Steps of AA
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
RY2
The following are the 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous, also referred to as NA. Narcotics Anonymous offers recovery from the effects of addiction through working a twelve-step program, including regular attendance at group meetings. The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. The name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; NA's approach makes no distinction between drugs including alcohol.

The Twelve Steps of NA
1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Some people benefit from tips in slogan form. Most people with alcohol or drug problems however need some sort of full-fledged recovery program.

Turn it over
Meeting makers make it.
Let go. Let God
This too shall pass
Misery is optional
Live and let live
Easy does it
Think Think Think
First things first
Live Easy but Think First

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
                                                                 -- Serenity Prayer

The author of The Funny Stuff Funnies takes sole responsibility for the content of this e-booklet. This booklet has not been sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by any government or non-government organization or fellowship, such as AA or NA.
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Find table of content for Funny Stuff Funnies at this link.
The Lunapic image editor contributed greatly to this booklet's pictorial enhancement. Other image editors used were Palette and Petalica.
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