The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous*

   How HIV Anonymous Works

If you desire inner peace, then you must become willing to take certain steps.  These are the 12-Steps that have made our enlightenment possible:

	We admitted we were powerless over the fact that we acquired HIV--that our lives had the potential to become unmanageable.
	We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves exists and may offer direction in our lives.
	We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care and direction of our Higher Power.
	We made a searching and honest inventory of ourselves.
	We admitted to ourselves, to our Higher Power, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.  We set out plans to secure our future.
	We became willing to work in partnership with our Higher Power to remove our ineffective behavior.
	We humbly asked our Higher Power to exonerate us.
	We made a list of all persons directly associated with our lives and became willing to deal with them according to spiritual precepts.
	We took steps toward reconciliation whenever possible, except when to do so would injure others or ourselves.
	We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
	We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power, praying for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
	Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we prepare ourselves through faith.  We will try to carry this message to others and demonstrate these principles in all areas of our lives.

These Steps formulate the process of our newfound equilibrium.  They are guides to progress.  We believe in spiritual progress, rather than spiritual perfection.  No one can totally free themselves from all ineffective behavior.  We are not perfect.  The point is to become willing to grow along spiritual lines. 

Enlightenment cannot be rushed.  But it is a fact that the sooner we confront our condition and realistically evaluate the world around us, the sooner we are freed from the disabling bondage of self.  The program of HIV Anonymous Positive Attitudes is a powerful and versatile tool that provides us this guidance.

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. Copyright 1939, 1955, 1976 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

* The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous have been reprinted and adapted with the permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (“A.A.W.S.”).  Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions does not mean that A.A.W.S. is affiliated with this program.  A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism only – use of A.A.’s Steps and Tradition or an adapted version of its Steps and Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A., but which address other problems, or use in any other non-A.A. context, does not imply otherwise.