Spotlight On Sobriety 10/19/2025
- Steve N.
- Oct 13
- 7 min read
In this week's publication:
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Spotlight On Sobriety 10/19/2025
Principles Behind The Steps - Step #2
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Principle Behind Step Two: Hope — A Willingness to Believe
One step past zero was all it took to start changing everything.
Step Two is where hope begins. After admitting powerlessness in Step One, we’re invited to consider a new possibility: Maybe we don’t have to do this alone. Most of us arrived here after exhausting every other option. We tried harder, swore off, white-knuckled—and failed. Step One brought surrender. Step Two offers a lifeline—hope that something greater than us can help.
The Principle of Hope
The principle behind Step Two is not religious doctrine or blind faith—just the possibility that something beyond our own willpower might help restore us to sanity.
As it says in the Big Book, page 45:
“Lack of power, that was our dilemma.”
We needed power beyond ourselves—our best thinking and self-knowledge weren’t enough.
I Didn’t Have to Understand—Just Be Willing
Here’s what saved me:
“I didn’t need to understand this Power.
I just had to stop believing I was it.”
I look around at nature, at evolution, at the universe itself—and I see a force clearly beyond human control. I don’t need to fully grasp gravity, or the stars, or the tides to trust they’re real. Likewise, I don’t need to define this Power to begin connecting with it.
Change Requires Openness
If I’m rigid, I break. If I stay open, I grow. Early in sobriety, someone told me:
“You can go through this hand-in-hand with God
—or be dragged through it, kicking and screaming.”
I’ve done both. The first is easier. Step Two invites us to approach recovery, relationships, and life with flexibility. If I resist change, I resist growth—and my sobriety is at risk.
Willingness, Not Certainty
The Big Book, page 47, asks:
“Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe,
that there is a Power greater than myself?”
That’s it. Willingness is enough. Imagine a chalkboard: Zero means no belief. One hundred means total God-consciousness. Step Two doesn’t ask me to be at 100. It just asks: Can I take one step to the right of zero? If I can say “maybe,” I’m on my way.
From Insanity to Sanity
When I rely solely on myself, I fall apart. I become restless, irritable, and discontent. I live in a state of spiritual confusion—insanity. But when I align my actions with spiritual principles, I begin to experience sanity. I become safe from that next drink. This Step is the bridge between problem and solution. It is not a demand for full belief.
It is simply the question:
“Is it possible?”
If the answer is yes—even just a little—hope is born. And from that hope, recovery begins.
GOD
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT
THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,
AND WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
Michael M.
Introduction of Candidates
Annual Meeting 11/01/2025 12:30 PM ET
Our Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 12:30 PM ET on Zoom. This meeting might be compared to a large Group Conscience Meeting or, even more aptly, a General Service Conference of GaL-AA.
Below is an overview of what members will be voting on and names of candidates. More information is available on our Annual Meeting webpage:
Proposed bylaw changes (Annual Meeting Page) To provide clarity, broaden membership information, add meeting information, and update to current business practices.
Section 1.0, a and b: Correct by removing “Service” from Internal Revenue Code
Section 2.0: Revise and update “Statement of Inclusion”.
Section 3.0, a: Add provision to join GaL-AA through approved social media outlets, b: clarify provisions for member voting, c: specify that financial support is optional and not a requirement for membership.
Section 7.0, a ii: Remove Advisor IV position: Remove specialties from Liaison positions.
Section 9.0, Add provision for Special Meeting notification through social media.
Section 11.0, a, b, c, d: Add language clarifying election cycle and procedures..
We are pleased to announce the names of the trusted servants who have been nominated to serve on the Executive Committee. Each candidate will speak before voting begins to introduce themselves and discuss their willingness to serve on GaL-AA‘s Executive Committee:
Deputy Chair – Anil P.
Secretary – Chris B.
Advisor I – James R. - filling an unexpired term of one year.
Advisor II – Steve N. - for full term, 2 years.
Advisor III – Michael M. - filling an unexpired term of one year.
Voting will take place live within Zoom using its secure voting features. To ensure your voice is counted, it is essential that you be on our official GaL-AA email list, as meeting and voting links will not be shared on social media. For security reasons, meeting details and voting links will only be distributed via email to subscribers.
During this meeting, members are encouraged to participate by listening to the reports given by each member of the Executive Committee and to each candidate as they introduce themselves and outline their willingness to serve on GaL-AA’s Executive Committee. Questions may be submitted in advance to support@gal-aa.org. If time permits, we will also address questions at the end of the meeting.
If you are not yet on the GaL-AA email list, please sign up today through our Members Page.
This is your opportunity to actively participate in shaping the future of GaL-AA. We encourage all members to attend, cast their votes, and be part of this important process.
For more information, please visit our Annual Meeting page.
GaL-AA Election Committee
October 2012: Gay, Joyous and Free
Publication Date: 2012-10-01
Magazine Issue: October 2012
Author Name: K.A.
Author City: Philadelphia
Author State: Pennsylvania
She found a safe place to get sober—and finally be herself
Coming to terms with my own sexual identity as a lesbian was at the heart of my alcoholism. I knew from a very early age that I liked girls in the same way that boys liked girls. Growing up in the ’60s and becoming a teen in the ’70s was not yet a safe time period to reveal my true sexual orientation. Alcohol offered me an illusory relief—a way to drown the secret, sinful feelings and keep them down under. This became a vicious cycle: each crush on a woman was doused in booze; each bout of drinking jumbled my thinking and found me confusing benign friendly gestures by female friends as something more, perhaps even romantic. I would “act out” sexually and quite promiscuously with men I met in bars, all the while fantasizing about women—and the drinking progressed.
My first relationship with a woman occurred just six weeks before I got sober. Interestingly enough, I met her when she was in the beginning of a relapse after having been sober for seven years. It was a disaster in the making, yet there was a divine orchestration underneath: put two alcoholics together and watch their drinking double! My Higher Power put her in my path, I believe, to bring me swiftly to my bottom. Within a few months, she too would seek sobriety.
I was 28 years old when I came out as a lesbian and took my last drink. The year was 1990. Putting the bottle down, however, did not automatically mend all the pieces of the broken person I was when I arrived at AA. My self-esteem dragged behind me on the floor like a worn-out mop. I still carried shame about being a lesbian, having been rejected by several so-called friends (and former drinking buddies). The clubhouse I went to was a male-dominated meeting, so I did not feel comfortable identifying myself as a lesbian, nor did I really want to be there because I did not want to identify as an alcoholic either! I came to meetings late, left early, never got a sponsor or picked up a single piece of literature. My ego and my self-will told me that I was the one who was in charge of putting down my last drink, therefore I was also the one who could “graduate” myself from meetings two years later!
I stayed away from meetings for 16½ years. I lived a dry, anxiety-ridden, ego-driven life, playing God. A major financial bottom brought me back to the rooms of AA in 2009—only this time with my head held high. For the first time ever, I identified myself as an alcoholic. Within a few short weeks of daily meetings, I acknowledged that I was a lesbian. No one batted an eye. In fact, I “came out” at a predominantly male, African-American meeting (I am Caucasian), sharing my story of experience, strength and hope. In the midst of my story, I did this dramatic pause and whispered the words, “I knew I was gay,” bracing for the looks of judgment and ridicule. Instead, the entire front row, in an exaggerated manner, held their hands to their faces and shouted “No! Not that!” The room burst out into fits of laughter. It was not only safe for me to come out, but it was embraced!
For the past three-plus years, I have been fully committed to my recovery and membership in AA. And it is with great humility that I share the story of my inner turmoil regarding my sexual identity and its connection to my alcoholism. In doing this, I hope to help other alcoholics who have experienced or are experiencing this same struggle to know that they are not alone and that AA is one place that is guaranteed not to turn them away.
My life has never been better. I am truly gay, joyous, and free in AA.
Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc. (October 2012) Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. To subscribe to AA Grapevine, please visit https://www.aagrapevine.org
GaL-AA's Spotlight On Sobriety 10/19/2025
The Spotlight On Sobriety features personal stories, articles and reflections submitted by members and friends of the fellowship. The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent those of Alcoholics Anonymous or GaL-AA.
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