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Step 2 AA Meaning: What’s This Higher Power Stuff About?

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AA, or Alcoholics Anonymous has an 80+ year history of helping individuals struggling with alcohol take back control of their lives from addiction. The 12 Step recovery program developed out of the AA philosophy.

While the overall purpose and goal of AA works to help individuals live sober lives, each of the 12 steps addresses an essential aspect of recovery. Step 2 specifically deals with incorporating the notion of a Higher Power into one’s daily reality. This notion of a Higher Power may well turn many people off, but the Step 2 AA meaning encompasses so much more than a “religious principle.”

Ultimately, the Step 2 AA meaning marks the end of the addiction mindset and the beginning of hope in the recovery process.

For more information on 12 Step recovery programs, call our toll-free helpline at 800-948-8417 Question iconSponsored .

The Purpose of Step 2

“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

Step 2 AA

Believing in a Higher Power establishes a sense of faith and hope.

Step 1 of the 12 Step approach requires admitting how unmanageable drinking has become in your life. Confronting denial and seeing addiction for what it is becomes essential to moving forward in recovery, according to the Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences.

Once this admission is made, the next step entails building a foundation upon which the recovery process can stand. In essence, the Step 2 AA meaning has to do with hope and believing that you can change your life for the better.

Step 2 AA Meaning – A Three-Part Approach

1. Having Faith in the Recovery Process

The Step 2 AA meaning of a Higher Power has as much to do with developing faith in your power to change as it does believing in a Higher Power. In this respect, a Higher Power can be anything that inspires you to maintain sobriety, be it God, your children or a need to regain your self-respect.

It’s this type of belief in a Higher Power that paves the way for faith and hope to become driving forces in your everyday life.

2. Believing in Something Greater than Self

The notion of a Higher Power not only opens the door to faith, but also helps a person realize that he or she doesn’t have to be the “hero” in his or her recovery process. Reaching out for help and guidance is essential to moving past the addiction mindset and unlearning addiction-based beliefs, according to Mayo Clinic.

Ultimately, being able to believe in something greater than yourself (or outside of yourself) becomes a necessary step in order for growth and change to happen.

3. Confronting Addiction’s Insanity

More often than not, the things that inspire a person draw from what’s good and right in his or her life. Likewise, the inspiration that comes with relying on a Higher Power also draws from the very best part of who you are.

This level of inspiration helps a person through the rough patches as confronting the effects of addiction in his or her life can be discouraging and even heart-breaking. Over time, having a solid understanding and connection with a Higher Power provides you with the strength needed to let change happen.

If you need help finding a 12 Step recovery program, we can help. Call our helpline at 800-948-8417 Question iconSponsored to speak with one of our addiction counselors.

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