Sometimes, in meetings, I would share about the “amazing insights” I had, but these are all things I now see in my rear-view mirror. My motives and drivers were revealed to me after I did the work of the Steps. My insights did not lead to recovery. They are knowledge I had been given as the result of working the Steps.

For me, it started with Step Zero, a willingness to try something desperate—working the Steps and finding a sponsor to guide me. What I didn’t have to do was to understand why I did the things I did. I tried to get more understanding, but that didn’t help me recover.

Most importantly, I didn’t fix anything. There is nothing I can do to stay sober, let alone be content with life. The serenity I have now is a gift, not something I earned. I have learned that this gift was available to me long before I was desperate enough to accept it.

The fixing was done by a Power far greater than myself, through a relationship developed as the result of the working the Steps.