The 12 Rewards of Sobriety have become a staple of 12-Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. The bonds that members make in their 12-Step meetings are positive and long-lasting. Alcoholics Anonymous describes their meetings as “non-professional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere” (AA.org). The goal of AA is to help anyone with a drinking problem that wants to change. The same is for NA, but with drugs. 

Here are the 12 Steps of AA and NA:

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol/drugs — that our lives have become unmanageable.
  2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
  4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character.
  7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 
  9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
  10. We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, we promptly admitted it.
  11. We 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 a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to those addicted to alcohol/drugs and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 

Besides these 12 Steps, there are also 12 Rewards that describe what someone can have once they are in recovery from their addiction:

  1. We can all have hope instead of desperation.
  2. We can all have faith instead of despair.
  3. We can all have courage instead of fear.
  4. We can all have peace of mind instead of confusion.
  5. We can all have self-respect instead of self-contempt.
  6. We can all have self-confidence instead of helplessness.
  7. We can all have the respect of others instead of their pity and contempt.
  8. We can all have a clean conscience instead of a sense of guilt.
  9. We can all have real friendships instead of loneliness.
  10. We can all have a clear pattern of life instead of a purposeless existence.
  11. We can all have the love and understanding of our families instead of their doubts and fears.
  12. We can all have the freedom of a happy life. 

Pinnacle Recovery wants to help you come to terms with your addiction. We want to help you reach recovery. We have a plethora of programs, inpatient and outpatient, that can help you in your journey to recovery. Call today at 1-866-301-0573 for more information about how we can help you. We can’t wait to hear from you.