Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. All the steps are listed on pages 59 & 60, but this is where the instructions for this step can be found in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Page 30, paragraph 2, lines 1-4 paragraph 3, lines 1-3 We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. AA, p. 44, paragraph 1, lines 4-9 If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer. AA, p. 45, paragraph 1, lines 1-4 paragraph 2, lines 1-3 Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power? Well, thats exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. AA, p. 59, lines 2-3 But there is One who has all power, that One is God. May you find him now!

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