It has often been assumed that the 12 Steps are original ideas brought to humanity through the thought and speech of Bill Wilson. The fact that Wilson attributes them to Rev. Sam Shoemaker has never stopped the membership of A.A. or other 12 Steps from "idolizing" Bill Wilson's role in revolutionizing addiction recovery in the 20th Century.
The Sam Shoemaker Connection
The idea for the 12 Steps came to Bill Wilson early in in his religious self discovery. In 1933 Bill Wilson had hit rock bottom. His alcohol addiction had destroyed his once promising Wall Street career, leaving he and his wife lived in poverty. It was at this time that Bill Wilson began to attend Oxford Group meetings at Calvary Church. It was at Calvary Church where he met his mentor Rev. Sam Shoemaker.
Shoemaker was the rector of Calvary Church and the head of The Oxford Groups in America. Although Shoemaker's connection to Frank Buchman has clouded his immense impact, Wilson credited him time and again on the inspiration for the 12 Steps. It was in those early years at Calvary Church that Wilson gained the spiritual strength and inspiration to write the 12 Steps. In fact Bill Wilson originally wanted Sam Shoemaker to write the steps, but Shoemaker convinced Wilson that he in fact was the most suited to write them.
Out of the Bible
Although Sam Shoemaker's contributions to the 12 Steps like self surrender, taking a personal inventory, and righting wrongs are clearly drawn from his own writings, their sources go much farther back into the Bible itself. Many of Sam's teachings are sourced in famous passages in the "New Testament" like the Sermon on the Mount. Yet, it is clear whether conscious or not of a connection with more Biblical ideas. Psalms are replete with affirmation of surrender and cleaving to G-D from King David. "Oh G-d, you are my G-d, I seek You. Thirsts for You does my soul, longs for you does my flesh; in a land parched and weary with no water," David says in Psalm 63, Verse 2. Proverbs is filled with affirmations about proper character building. In fact the entire book is said to be written with this understanding in mind. The first four verses of the book state: "The proverbs of Shelomo the son of David, king of Yisra'l; to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion." Later Proverbs states: "Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. Do not enter into the path of the wicked, and do not go in the way of evil men."
Perhaps the biggest indication that the 12 Steps are more clearly rooted in Biblical verses can be seen in one of the more famous commandments that G-d espouses to Moses and the Nation of Israel. "The Lord shall establish thee a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy G-D, and walk in his ways." The commandment to walk in his ways, to act as G-D would act in a particular situation, is perhaps one of the most integral concepts not only in Judaism , but in the entire religious outlook of ethical monotheism, which not only Judaism falls under, but Christianity as well. If one thing can be said for the Twelve Steps it is that the thrust of the program itself is surrender to the infinite leads to a cleansing of character. This cleansing of a person's character can be likened to digging a hole or creating a void, yet no hole or void remains empty and this is where those addicts connected to the 12 Steps and really all of us find themselves. What are we going to fill the void and hole up with? The answer is: "... walk in his ways." This is the joint message of the Bible and 12 Steps and this is the message that has helped addicts recover and most of mankind aspire to a higher sense of purpose and morality.
Follow these steps I have specifically found to help anyone who is new to Power of Creative Visualization.
Step One: Choose a quiet place, which is free from all distraction, interruption or disturbance. This may even be inside a bus or in your own room. The idea is to be able to concentrate in any environment that you find is suitable. The ideal is to be able to concentrate in any environment that you find is suitable. The ideal time, however, I have found to be is, early in the morning or before going to bed. The ideal place however, may be anywhere as long as you can concentrate.
Step Two: Feel comfortable. Wear loose clothes or else loosen your belt and tie.
Step Three: Be comfortable. Keep your spine straight. Loosen your hands. Relax! This eases your body tension and helps your blood circulate efficiently.
Step Four: Close your eyes. That way your physical world does not interrupt you and you can concentrate on your mental world. But avoid quenching your eyes. Close them gently. In fact, once you focus on your images, you may find your eyes closing naturally.
Step Five: Breathe normally. Let your body roll with the rhythm of your breathing. Listen to that rhythm.
Step Six: Now begin the process of visualization. Create the key images of the subject you have chosen. Form the shape. Add color. Build the sound. Sense them! Focus on them. See them as sharply and clearly as you can with your mind's eye.
Step Seven: Put yourself in the images you have created. You must be inside the picture so as to let your subconscious mind know that the image you see that leads to your goal is actually meant for you, and not for anyone else.
Step Eight: Feel the image you have created. Now that you are inside the picture imagine yourself to be leading the time you see. Feel the environment. Watch how different it feels to lead a life that you had desired. Bring your images alive.
Step Nine: Experience the images with all your emotions. See! Hear! Smell! Feel how it feels to have achieved your goals. Let the excitement and happiness of success flow through you. Let the thrill of success build in you. Feel your success.
Step Ten: Once you have experienced your images with emotion, let your mind go blank. If you hold on to your images for too long, the images might disappear due to overexposure. So, let go of it.
Step Eleven: Create a space in your mind to receive what you desire. Say to yourself that what you desire - like, "I deserve to be healthy", "I deserve to be rich and famous." By doing this, you not only let your subconscious mind support the picture, you literally achieve your success.
Step Twelve: Feel creative while creating the images. I have given you the basic guidelines in the following pages to create visuals that will help you achieve your goals. You may change them accordingly to suit your needs. The more the images meet your specific needs, the more effective they will be.
These then are the twelve important steps to mind-power. Remember, it is better to visualize 2-3 times a day for a shorter duration than to visualize for a long stretch during the day. Doing this, the quality of visuals remain fresh instead of becoming stale and plaid and draining all energy out of you.
Steps one to ten might take you anything between 5-10 minutes. It is better if you do not prolong it. Instead, repeat it at another time of the day.
When you release the image after this brief exercise, your mind will become free of the mind-power you had activated. But your subconscious mind keeps on supporting the image you had seen. This helps your goal and your dreams to be a reality.
The twelve steps to Mind power that I have explained above is the most powerful tool in this world. When you switch on your mind power and extend it to creative visualization for turning your dreams into reality - then, that is exactly what will happen. Your dreams will become reality.
Both David Mark & Pradeep Aggarwal are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
David Mark has sinced written about articles on various topics from Investing and Trading, Alcohol Treatment and Motorola Cell Phone. David Mark writes for numerous websites that focus on spreading information that is important for humanity. Learn more about the .. David Mark's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.
Pradeep Aggarwal has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Web Development and Online Business. is a renowned Hypnosis and NLP guru with career spanning two and half decades He is also a much sought after speaker and peak performance consultant. Pradeep Aggarwal's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.