Lifes Dysfunctions

We admitted we were powerless over what we hoped we could control – that our lives had become unmanageable.

What Lies Ahead
The first step on the path to enlightenment involves an honest appraisal of our way of living and goals in life. Most of us want to be happily satisfied. This can take many forms and usually involves having our basic physical needs taken care of, as well as feeling connected to others and appreciated. We want love and meaning in our lives. Freedom, autonomy and influence are other universal needs. It seems that the ability to control our world so that we can maintain our happiness is something that would be essential.

In the First Step we critically examine, with an open and curious mind, if what we are doing is really working for us. The purpose of this step is to realize that our approach to life is not completely satisfying and some, or many, of our needs go unmet. During our exploration, we may find what we are doing only works sometimes or perhaps not very frequently at all. We may also notice that something that works for others does not necessarily work for us, or vice versa. Further, some areas of our lives may seem fine, but other areas may be disappointing. 

We must come to conclude, after the analysis of our life, that what we are doing does not work all the time or in all situations. If, instead, we are satisfied with our life and the future that lies ahead of us, then there is no need to do anything different. An attitude of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, or even disgust, is needed to proceed with the remaining steps. Only upon this foundation do we find we have a solid motivation for grasping a way of life that is new and novel, but ultimately effective in bringing us lasting happiness. 

I want to forewarn the reader that, although the First Step can be somewhat morbid and depressing, only a complete understanding of what we will be discussing in this step can lead to the type of motivation required to complete the remaining steps. It is like the bumper sticker that states, “If you aren’t angry, you’re not paying attention.” In this step we start to pay close attention to what is really going on in our lives. We also let go of any tendency to see good in the world and focus on the negative aspects of even a happy life as a human. Admittedly, to focus on suffering would be a miserable past-time if we did not have at our disposal a program (the Twelve Steps) that can change our future world. Here, our focus will be on taking the sugar coating off of life and looking at the cold reality of it. In Step One, we admit we cannot control anything and that our lives are unmanageable. 

For people already on a spiritual path, as I suspect many of my readers will be, this step may actually be a step backward. You may have already accepted that many things about this world are negative and you cannot change them. From that place you may have already moved on to a practice that focuses on the positive in this world. This is a splendid, worthwhile world view. However, simply ignoring the negative creates a pleasant experience that is only temporary. My purpose in this writing is to show how the Twelve Steps, developed by Alcoholics Anonymous, and which have spread like wild-fire to now support people with many different types of addictions or living problems, are a complete path to end all negativity permanently. 

Our Ambitious Goal
This seems like an incredible claim. Certainly, millions of people have defeated life-threatening addictions with the Twelve Steps. And many more have improved their lives dramatically with the application of the principles embodied in the steps. But to claim that one can defeat aging, sickness, depression and death with the Steps, certainly this is too much to believe! In fact, defeating death is beyond any sensible person’s wildest dreams. However, that is exactly what I am saying here. The key to what the Shakyamuni Buddha taught was that all negativity can be eliminated in its entirety, never to return. With the elimination of negativity, a heavenly state arises and negative events such as aging and death cease to occur. “Heaven” is not an eternal state that can only be reached after death, but is a state that can be achieved before death – if we are to believe the Buddha. The principle steps the Buddha taught to achieve this state free from suffering mirror the spiritual principles that are inherently part of the Twelve Steps.