I'm working my first step right now, so the recent discussion on your thread caught my interest. The thing that has really surprised me about Step 1 is how emotional it is, writing it out. Several of you above have mentioned the waves of intense emotions that hit us during recovery. I had originally assumed that working Step 1 would give me a sense of relief from those emotions. But as I've been working (for a long-ass time now), I've been realizing that I think Step 1 is largely about facing those emotions head on. My sponsor keeps reminding me that Step 1 is a foundation for everything else, and a huge part of that is finding ways to walk through our fears and regrets authentically. At least that's how I'm imagining the process.
In any case, keep up the good work, gentlemen!
FWIW, here's my experience on this stuff....
as it seems there are a number of people just starting out
trying to get a handle on whatever has a handle on you, i
figured i'd put my two cents worth in.
i had a pretty bad drug habit myself, about a 10 gram a day
cocaine habit. just about killed me a few times.
12 step program. no detox. no hospitalization. got sober in my car.
nothing stronger than aspirin since leap year day, 1984. 33 years.
no relapses. went to work every day. had $3.18 in my pocket when
i got sober, and $2 of it was a roll of nickels.
the guy who showed me how to do this was pretty straightforward.
it took three sheets of paper, and three hours. at the end of that time,
i had a list of things to do. if i did them, i'd stay sober. if i didn't, i'd use.
it worked. the craving, and the obsession to use left. it's never returned.
three sheets of paper, three hours. walked away from the experience
with a curious feeling that my problem was behind me. so far, so good.
that doesn't do much good to tell someone about if they can't do it too.
anyone can, most don't. not for any great length of time. so part of the
deal is to become less selfish, and help someone else. pass it forward.
done it over the net, with people i've never met. doesn't matter. still works.
the first one i did over the net i've never met in person. she's got 19 years sober
now.
it's pretty anonymous. it works pretty damn good.
if you want to find out how to trade three hours of your time for the rest of your
life, no strings attached, send me a private message.
have fun, whatever you decide to do.
randy