Greater than Gold

When my sponsee and I finished the Twelfth Step, we looked at each other and said, “Now what?” It felt more like a letdown than a victory. No certificate was awarded, no pin, no ceremony. A few days later, I made a card that showed a house with a huge gold star in the garage. In the card I wrote: If we awarded a gold star for finishing the Steps, it would have to be this big; however, the gifts we’ve been given are much bigger.

1. We have had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps.
2. We have accepted that we cannot rewrite the past.
3. Those past events no longer have any power over us, unless we let them.
4. Yet we have righted some wrongs that haunted us.
5. We have forgiven wrongs against us and let go of anger and resentments.
6. We have been able to let go of the shame of the past . . . and it is over.
7. We are not that person anymore.
8. We’ve released some of our survival techniques that no longer worked and had become character defects.
9. We are free to become the persons God created us to be.
10. The promises are being fulfilled in our lives.
11. We are happy, joyous, and free.
12. We can reach out to others who are suffering, in and out of the rooms.

Who needs an award when we’ve received gifts like these?

— Rosanne K., Portland, Oregon USA