Step One and Step Two Wrap-Up

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

I’m grateful for dinner at the diner. I’m grateful for a rainy morning. I’m grateful for new chances and new days. I’m grateful for the stories in the back of the book and a great meeting. I’m grateful to be sober today.

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and for those of you traveling somewhere, this Mystery Button is dedicated to you. As far as this being Thanksgiving week, the publication schedule is a bit up in the air, the gratitude list will always be fresh, the rest, who can say?

As I write my way through the Steps, the next stop will be Number Three. Personally, I think this is one of the harder and more involved of the Steps. It is deceptively phrased in terms of simply making a “decision.” Weirdly, there is not a requirement for action beyond that. My personal view is that this is where Bill W, ever the consummate salesman, closes the trap and the deal: “All that is required is a simple decision…” Like the man says, the enterprise is about getting them to sign on the line that is dotted:

But that’s for next week! Here’s a quick summary of Steps One and Two in the meantime:

And here is a helpful collection of some of the recent essays on Step One and Step Two:

Step One

The First Step

Finding the Next Rock

Start the War Here

Step Two

The Steps of Step Two

Real-izations

Exactly What to Believe In

Coming to Believe

And the thing that sets it in motion: Gratitude

SUNDAY GRATITUDE EXTRAVAGANZA

How it Works: Gratitude

How it Works: Humility

How it Works: Self-Honesty

How It Works: Empathy

I hope you and yours have a fantastic, happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully, with all 107 links you now have an excuse and ammunition when it’s all a bit overwhelming, “I’m going to go work on my sobriety.” This Mystery Button is also for you: