In my last post I spoke about Russell Brands’ new book – “Freedom From Our Addictions” (Link here for it on Amazon Australia)…

Russell in this book describes his own version of the Alcoholic Anonymous 12 Steps Program and uses it in everyday life to overcome all his problems. He speaks interestingly about how many of our ‘addictions’ are the way we behave.

For me personally this has been my ‘Scorpion Attitude’ towards others, especially those close to me and I am supposed to love and protect. I describe the story of the Scorpion and the Frog in a previous blog you can read by clicking here if you don’t know it.

It always meant for me that it was in my nature to sting others and I used this as an excuse – along with a few work related stress, anxiety and depression issues which invaded my life and head. All really were just excuses to justify sometimes pretty damaging behaviour. See, I did it then – lessening my involvement – thinking back most time… make that all the time I let the scorpion win it WAS damaging behaviour!

Well, after reading Russells’ book and a bit of soul searching I realised the 12 Steps as described by him can work in a lot of life’s challenges.

I have set them out below alongside the original AA 12 Steps Program – but I must CAUTION here that Russell like me has a tendency for, well, COLOURFULL LANGUAGE.

I hope this may help you on your trek in life…. the hardest step is always the first one….. and this is no different.

AA 12 Steps		Russell Brand 12 Steps
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.	1	Are you fucked?
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.	2	Could you not be fucked?
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.	3	Are you, on your own, going to “unfuck” yourself?
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.	4	Write down all the things that are fucking you up or have ever fucked you up and don’t lie, or leave anything out.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.	5	Honestly tell someone trustworthy about how fucked you are.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.	6	Well that’s revealed a lot of fucked up patterns. Do you want to stop it? Seriously?
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.	7	Are you willing to live in a new way that’s not all about you and your previous, fucked up stuff? You have to.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed,and became willing to make amends to them all.	8	Prepare to apologize to everyone for everything affected by your being so fucked up.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.	9	Now apologize. Unless that would make things worse.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.	10	Watch out for fucked up thinking and behaviour and be honest when it happens.
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.	11	Stay connected to your new perspective.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs	12	Look at life less selfishly, be nice to everyone, help people if you can.