Step three
Step Three
P. Read Step Three out of the Basic Text every day before writing.
2. Read Step Three out of It Works, How and Why.
3. Write down your definition of each word in the step. Then look up each word individually in the dictionary and write down what you learn about the difference between what you thought it meant and the dictionary says it means.
4. Write your concept of willingness. Then look it up and write about what you have
learned.
P. Read Step Three out of the Basic Text every day before writing.
2. Read Step Three out of It Works, How and Why.
3. Write down your definition of each word in the step. Then look up each word individually in the dictionary and write down what you learn about the difference between what you thought it meant and the dictionary says it means.
4. Write your concept of willingness. Then look it up and write about what you have
learned.
What does it mean to turn your well and life over to the care of God as you understand God
What does your life look like when it's run by self well
5. Write what each part means to you:
a. We Made
b. A Decision
c. To Turn our Will
d. And Our Lives
e. Over to the Care of God
f. As We Understood Him.
6. Write about how you understand God.
7. Every day write on events that you thought about longer than you needed to and the
events that you left in God's hands.
8. What is the principle of Step Three?
What is a decision?
2. How do I make a decision?
3. What is "my will and my life"?
4. How am I going to turn my will and life over to God?
5. Why is it OK to have a different Higher Power than anyone else?
6. Why do I have to live these steps in my life?
7. What are the three phases of relapse?
8. How can the Serenity Prayer help me in life?
9. Why is being clean without living the steps dangerous?
10. What Spiritual Awakening did you have as a result of this step?
Sponsor/Sponsee Third Step Worksheet
"We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
This is often referred to as a stumbling block of recovery. Many of us just get stuck here and can't seem to move on. The reason is that, as addicts, we like to take something simple and complicate it. It doesn't have to be that way, if we become willing and open minded. With that in mind, let's take a look at this step beginning with the word "Decision". What is a decision? "Decision" is an action word. It is a beginning or a starting point. Looking at it from the point of view of the program, it is the time in our lives that we let go of our old attitudes as we make mistakes and grow in spiritual principles. Being willing and open-minded is very important as far as "Decision" and the Third Step is concerned. Simply put, a decision is accepting this step into our lives.
The next part of this step is "To turn our will and our lives". What does this mean by "Our will and our lives"? "Our will" is our way of doing things. We always want to fix things the way we want them, no matter whom it hurts or destroys. That comes from the core of our disease, and that core is Self-centeredness . There is only one power that can destroy Self-centeredness and that is Spirituality. We can now begin to build spirituality in our lives. We will get a greater realization of it's strength and power in the Eleventh Step. The phrase "Our lives" simply means our day to day affairs, including our problems, our worries, and our pain.
Let's look at the words "Over to the care of God as we understood Him". Many of us can not or will not, relate to the word God. By the time we reached NA, many of us were atheists or agnostics. Some of us have a God who is vengeful. Again we need to be Willing, Open-minded and Honest. The type of Honesty which is needed here is Self Honesty. We must be honest enough to admit that there is a power higher than ourselves. It doesn't matter what that power is. The program tells us "God as we understand Him". That doesn't have to be a God of someone else's belief, but a God of your belief. This is where the confusion can come into the program. As addicts we sometimes try to push our beliefs about him on other addicts. I have heard some addicts to get down on their knees and pray to God without ever knowing if that is the God of that person's understanding. The important thing to remember is that this step means a God of your understanding. It can be the God of your childhood, a force, nature, some kind of form, intelligence or even a rock in your backyard. It is the Higher Power that you and you alone can have Faith in. As long as you relate and pray to your Higher Power the way that you understand him. The Higher Power you have today may change during recovery and that's OK, because it's your Higher Power.
Now, let's talk about "Over to the care of". One mistake we make when we don't understand this step we say "Turn it over to God". We leave out the word "care". Without the word "care", we change the entire meaning of the step. Let me give you an example of this: it's Saturday night and you and your spouse are going out for the night. You have a child. You DON'T turn your child over to the baby-sitter, you turn over the care of your child to the baby-sitter to watch and guide the child. When we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, we do this not to become robots or carbon copies of each other, but to have the Higher Power of our understanding watch and guide our wills and our lives.
A question often asked is, "What is God's will for me?" the answer is simple. God's will for us is to act mature and responsible to the best of our ability, depending on where we are in our recovery. God's will for us grows as we grow. If we act mature and responsible to the best of our ability, the outcome of our situation will be as mature and responsible as it can be at that point in our recovery. Now, when we turn our lives over to the care of God as we understand him one of two things will happen:
1. If we are living the first three steps in our lives and in all things, we are living
maturely and responsibly then our Higher Power will work things out for us.
2. If we aren't living the first three steps in our lives, our Higher Power will allow us to feel the consequences of our actions, so we can learn from them, and then act mature and responsible.
When we first come into the program of Narcotics Anonymous we are physically, mentally (AKA: emotionally) and spiritually bankrupt. The First Step restored us physically, the Second Step; mentally, and the Third Step; spiritually. We must maintain vigilance over these three aspects of our disease. As relapse occurs, the first to go will be the spiritual, then the mental and emotional until finally the physical ( the act of once again picking up and using). That is why it is so important to live the steps in our lives. It is the maintenance of the program. If you have no Higher Power, then try G.O.D meaning Good Orderly Direction.
One last thing we will talk about is the relationship of the Serenity Prayer to the first three steps. Once we realize the connection between the two, the Serenity Prayer becomes a powerful tool in our lives. Let's take a look at how they connect:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,". The First Step, surrender and acceptance.
"The courage to change the things I can,". The Second Step, doing things differently to change the outcome from insanity to sanity.
"And the wisdom to know the difference.". This is the Third Step, doing the mature and responsible thing, not our own self-centered will.
The Third Step Prayer
"Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."
"Basic Text" pg. 25
Step Three
Part 2
Write about the following questions on a separate sheet of paper and return to your Sponsor.
1. What is a decision?
2. How do I make a decision?
3. What is "my will and my life"?
4. How am I going to turn my will and life over to God?
5. Why is it OK to have a different Higher Power than anyone else?
6. Why do I have to live these steps in my life?
7. What are the three phases of relapse?
8. How can the Serenity Prayer help me in life?
9. Why is being clean without living the steps dangerous?
10. What Spiritual Awakening did you have as a result of this step?
5. Write what each part means to you:
a. We Made
b. A Decision
c. To Turn our Will
d. And Our Lives
e. Over to the Care of God
f. As We Understood Him.
6. Write about how you understand God.
7. Every day write on events that you thought about longer than you needed to and the
events that you left in God's hands.
8. What is the principle of Step Three?
What is a decision?
2. How do I make a decision?
3. What is "my will and my life"?
4. How am I going to turn my will and life over to God?
5. Why is it OK to have a different Higher Power than anyone else?
6. Why do I have to live these steps in my life?
7. What are the three phases of relapse?
8. How can the Serenity Prayer help me in life?
9. Why is being clean without living the steps dangerous?
10. What Spiritual Awakening did you have as a result of this step?
Sponsor/Sponsee Third Step Worksheet
"We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
This is often referred to as a stumbling block of recovery. Many of us just get stuck here and can't seem to move on. The reason is that, as addicts, we like to take something simple and complicate it. It doesn't have to be that way, if we become willing and open minded. With that in mind, let's take a look at this step beginning with the word "Decision". What is a decision? "Decision" is an action word. It is a beginning or a starting point. Looking at it from the point of view of the program, it is the time in our lives that we let go of our old attitudes as we make mistakes and grow in spiritual principles. Being willing and open-minded is very important as far as "Decision" and the Third Step is concerned. Simply put, a decision is accepting this step into our lives.
The next part of this step is "To turn our will and our lives". What does this mean by "Our will and our lives"? "Our will" is our way of doing things. We always want to fix things the way we want them, no matter whom it hurts or destroys. That comes from the core of our disease, and that core is Self-centeredness . There is only one power that can destroy Self-centeredness and that is Spirituality. We can now begin to build spirituality in our lives. We will get a greater realization of it's strength and power in the Eleventh Step. The phrase "Our lives" simply means our day to day affairs, including our problems, our worries, and our pain.
Let's look at the words "Over to the care of God as we understood Him". Many of us can not or will not, relate to the word God. By the time we reached NA, many of us were atheists or agnostics. Some of us have a God who is vengeful. Again we need to be Willing, Open-minded and Honest. The type of Honesty which is needed here is Self Honesty. We must be honest enough to admit that there is a power higher than ourselves. It doesn't matter what that power is. The program tells us "God as we understand Him". That doesn't have to be a God of someone else's belief, but a God of your belief. This is where the confusion can come into the program. As addicts we sometimes try to push our beliefs about him on other addicts. I have heard some addicts to get down on their knees and pray to God without ever knowing if that is the God of that person's understanding. The important thing to remember is that this step means a God of your understanding. It can be the God of your childhood, a force, nature, some kind of form, intelligence or even a rock in your backyard. It is the Higher Power that you and you alone can have Faith in. As long as you relate and pray to your Higher Power the way that you understand him. The Higher Power you have today may change during recovery and that's OK, because it's your Higher Power.
Now, let's talk about "Over to the care of". One mistake we make when we don't understand this step we say "Turn it over to God". We leave out the word "care". Without the word "care", we change the entire meaning of the step. Let me give you an example of this: it's Saturday night and you and your spouse are going out for the night. You have a child. You DON'T turn your child over to the baby-sitter, you turn over the care of your child to the baby-sitter to watch and guide the child. When we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, we do this not to become robots or carbon copies of each other, but to have the Higher Power of our understanding watch and guide our wills and our lives.
A question often asked is, "What is God's will for me?" the answer is simple. God's will for us is to act mature and responsible to the best of our ability, depending on where we are in our recovery. God's will for us grows as we grow. If we act mature and responsible to the best of our ability, the outcome of our situation will be as mature and responsible as it can be at that point in our recovery. Now, when we turn our lives over to the care of God as we understand him one of two things will happen:
1. If we are living the first three steps in our lives and in all things, we are living
maturely and responsibly then our Higher Power will work things out for us.
2. If we aren't living the first three steps in our lives, our Higher Power will allow us to feel the consequences of our actions, so we can learn from them, and then act mature and responsible.
When we first come into the program of Narcotics Anonymous we are physically, mentally (AKA: emotionally) and spiritually bankrupt. The First Step restored us physically, the Second Step; mentally, and the Third Step; spiritually. We must maintain vigilance over these three aspects of our disease. As relapse occurs, the first to go will be the spiritual, then the mental and emotional until finally the physical ( the act of once again picking up and using). That is why it is so important to live the steps in our lives. It is the maintenance of the program. If you have no Higher Power, then try G.O.D meaning Good Orderly Direction.
One last thing we will talk about is the relationship of the Serenity Prayer to the first three steps. Once we realize the connection between the two, the Serenity Prayer becomes a powerful tool in our lives. Let's take a look at how they connect:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,". The First Step, surrender and acceptance.
"The courage to change the things I can,". The Second Step, doing things differently to change the outcome from insanity to sanity.
"And the wisdom to know the difference.". This is the Third Step, doing the mature and responsible thing, not our own self-centered will.
The Third Step Prayer
"Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."
"Basic Text" pg. 25
Step Three
Part 2
Write about the following questions on a separate sheet of paper and return to your Sponsor.
1. What is a decision?
2. How do I make a decision?
3. What is "my will and my life"?
4. How am I going to turn my will and life over to God?
5. Why is it OK to have a different Higher Power than anyone else?
6. Why do I have to live these steps in my life?
7. What are the three phases of relapse?
8. How can the Serenity Prayer help me in life?
9. Why is being clean without living the steps dangerous?
10. What Spiritual Awakening did you have as a result of this step?
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