Steps & Traditions

Working the First Three Steps

The Third Step has been the hardest and most confusing for me. It would have been much easier had I better understood and practiced the first two Steps from the start.

By |2025-03-07T15:42:33-06:00December 6, 1997|Comments Off on Working the First Three Steps

Before Making Amends, Listen to your Sponsor

I have been coming to SA for over two years. I am now 150 days sober. I believe that my history of achieving a few months’ sobriety and then slipping lies with my ego. I seem to lack humility, which causes me to believe too much in my own way of seeing the world, no matter how painful that is, rather than accepting other people’s guidance and support.

By |2025-03-07T15:43:12-06:00September 6, 1997|Comments Off on Before Making Amends, Listen to your Sponsor

Self-Supporting through Our Own Contributions?

Our Seventh Tradition — “Every SA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions” — is part of our meeting format. Yet it was discussed at a fellowship meeting at a recent conference that we are not fully self-supporting through our contributions. Only about half of our income comes from group contributions.

By |2025-03-17T11:11:37-05:00December 13, 1996|Comments Off on Self-Supporting through Our Own Contributions?

How an SA Group Dealt With an Invitation to Appear on Television

In the five-plus years that SA has existed in Toronto, we have received numerous requests to be involved in radio or television programs. With careful attention to the SA position papers on media publicity, we have always declined. In January 1996, our group agreed to take part in a TV program. This decision, however, gave rise to many questions and concerns within the fellowship, which led to a review of the decision in a group conscience meeting. We would like to share with you what happened and how we resolved it.

By |2025-03-20T10:29:23-05:00June 13, 1996|Comments Off on How an SA Group Dealt With an Invitation to Appear on Television

Are the Twelve Steps Meaningful Only to Individuals, or Do These Principles Also Apply to Our Fellowship?

Question: “How can SA as a fellowship work the Steps; I thought only individuals could do that?” Response: “The idea does sound kind of new and strange, doesn’t it? But let’s see what it might look like.”

By |2025-03-25T12:31:28-05:00June 21, 1995|Comments Off on Are the Twelve Steps Meaningful Only to Individuals, or Do These Principles Also Apply to Our Fellowship?

Turning it Over

I became willing to turn my life over to the care of God. My first time was when I first entered the program. Then I finally admitted that it was not up to me to define the bottom line. To really turn over to my sponsor—regular contact, honest sharing of my lust and resentment and regular work on the Steps is my next step.

By |2025-04-02T12:41:59-05:00June 25, 1994|Comments Off on Turning it Over