Peace Anonymous – Will It Work

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation”

-Herbert Spencer

The one question I am asked more than any other is this: Do you think Peace Anonymous will work?

My work in this endeavor is, and always has been, to simply pass on what was given to me. As a recovering alcoholic with over twenty years of sobriety, I have experienced great changes in my own life and witnessed similar miracles in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of others, as a result of these Steps. So the answer is that it doesn’t matter what “I think”. What I do “know” is that the Steps work, if you want them too. And my question to you is this: What are you going to do with these Steps? Are you desperate enough to consider possibilities you may not have otherwise considered? Can you be rigorously honest? Are you open-minded to a variety of possibilities? Are you willing to look at yourself and the world we live in? Can you see the futility in continuing as we have? Are you willing to change?

I will forever be grateful to the people in AA who never told me what to believe as I was encouraged to search my soul and come to terms with “my” spirituality. The secret behind the success of all 12 Step programs lies in the willingness to accept our powerlessness over given situations and seek a solution from a Power greater than ourselves. This personal Higher Power, or God as you understand Him, is a critical factor in the process because we come to realize that we are part of the problem, not the solution. Ask yourself if going to war ever been the solution? Or has it always been part of the problem? Isn’t doing the same thing over and over expecting different results insane? When I asked the Power that had the sun come up every morning if consuming vast quantities of scotch was a solid plan for a happy life it became pretty clear He didn’t think it was the right course of action. My Higher Power or Collective Conscience has made it much easier for me to discern the difference between insane and acceptable behavior and, as a result, it became much easier for me to let go of the idea of drinking.

Another basic premise of 12 Step programs lies in the acceptance that we cannot change others – we can only change ourselves. Once I could clearly see that I had to accept responsibility for my actions and that any and all attempts at controlling others only caused more conflict in my life, it was easier to change.

Everybody knows where we have to go.  Can we, the people of the world, live in peace? Can we utilize the same recipe that millions of addicts and alcoholics have used, regardless of religion or ethnicity, to bring peace into their lives? Since I began writingPeace Anonymous – The 12 Steps To Peace I have asked hundreds of people the same questions I asked myself when I came face to face with my alcoholism: Can we continue as we have? Is this working? Is it creating the world we want? What will happen if we continue down this path?

I really don’t know. The choice is yours. What else do you have?