Hello Atalanta

   Welcome to my forum. I appreciate  you comming here and sharing your message of hope with us. You have been on an amazing journey that I am quite familiar with and to share that experience with others is perhaps, the most beautiful part of that journey.

   You mention the 12 step program. While there are many versions of this program, the basics are the same in each. I have seen many times where people have been able to completely turn their lives around by following this program. It is very important to take it one step at a time. Once the first step becomes a part of your daily life, only then, are you ready to move on to step two.

   I thought it would be a good idea to post the 12 steps here right now in hopes that someone who is struggling with life might find them and consequently, find new hope for a life that had become hopeless.

   Atalanta, Thanks again for your message of hope. I hgope you come back here again soon. I have so much that I would like to discuss with you. One day at a time my friend. Many Blessings to you Atalanta.

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.