Finding Spirituality in AA

The 12 Steps of AA share spiritual themes such as honesty, humility, and forgiveness with all the world’s great religious traditions. However religious belief is not necessary to work the steps or get sober. The concepts of God or a Higher Power are entirely personal to the individual. Actions such taking a moral inventory, making amends, and being of service to others are guidelines to sobriety. The steps help us not only to get and stay sober, but to help us evolve and become better versions of ourselves.

The first definition I heard of spirituality was that “Religion was for people afraid of going to Hell and spirituality was for people for already had been there.” As a veteran of multiple tours to the lower realms, I could identify, but what is spirituality?

It can be easily misunderstood as religion. You can certainly be spiritual while being religious, but religious belief is not necessary. Spirituality is an expansive term; one where there are no rules; there is no set ideology, dogma or traditions to follow. In the simplest of terms, it is about connecting with a power greater than ourselves in a personal search for comfort and meaning.

Spirituality is a practice of self-love rather than self-loathing. It gives me permission to walk my own path and see myself in a new light. It’s about connection rather than separation. It is a lifelong quest for greater understanding that gives my life depth, meaning and hope. Unbridled from the dogmatic reins of religious belief, it has freed the journey of my soul to explore the greater mysteries of my existence and to see the interconnectedness of all things.

Over time sobriety has become to mean more to me than not drinking. It’s a spiritual way of living life on life’s terms. For a long time I was very good at staying away from a drink, but very bad at living life. My battles with anxiety and depression were more hellish than any drunken spree. With a great deal of help inside and outside the rooms I learned to use my spiritual practices to help overcome my problems other than alcoholism and to live a fuller richer life.

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