Written by, Jay W.
A lot of us think “working the Steps” only happens with a sponsor, homework, or big emotional breakthroughs. But honestly, meetings are one of the main places the Steps come to life. By showing up, listening, sharing honestly, and being part of the group, we’re often practicing the Steps without even realizing it.
Here’s one way meetings can connect to every Step:
Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over marijuana, that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step One begins with honesty. Every time we walk into a meeting and say “I’m an addict,” or share honestly about struggling, cravings, relapses, or chaos, we’re practicing Step One. Meetings help break denial and remind us we’re not alone in this.
Step Two: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” For many of us, this starts with believing the MA group itself can help us think and live differently. Coming to meetings instead of isolating, listening to people who understand us, or asking the group for help are all ways we practice Step Two. Sometimes the group believes in our recovery before we do — and that belief can carry us until we can believe it ourselves.
Step Three:“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood God.” For those of us who aren’t religious, this can mean trusting the wisdom and support of the MA community instead of our own addicted thinking. Showing up, taking suggestions, reaching out instead of isolating, and letting others help guide us are all ways we practice Step Three.
Step Four:“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” Meetings help us recognize patterns in ourselves. As we listen to others share honestly about fear, resentment, shame, dishonesty, avoidance, or pain, we often begin to see our own experiences more clearly. Sharing honestly is part of learning to look at ourselves truthfully and compassionately.
Step Five:“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” Every time we speak honestly about our struggles, behaviours, mistakes, or pain, we loosen the grip of secrecy and shame. Meetings give us a safe place to tell the truth to ourselves and others who understand. Sharing honestly takes courage, and it’s a big part of this Step.
Step Six: “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” Meetings help us become aware of habits and coping mechanisms that no longer serve us. Hearing how others have changed gives us hope that we can change too. Readiness often grows slowly through honesty, reflection, and connection.
Step Seven: “Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.” For many of us, humility means accepting that we can’t recover alone. Asking the MA community for support, guidance, accountability, and perspective is part of this Step. We stop pretending we have everything under control.
Step Eight: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” As we grow in recovery and hear others’ stories, we begin to understand more deeply how our addiction affected people around us. Sometimes we start to form an informal awareness of harm during meetings as we reflect and share. Meetings help build empathy, accountability, and willingness to repair where we can.
Step Nine: “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” Meetings remind us that recovery is about action, not just intention. Hearing others share about difficult conversations and repaired relationships gives us courage to make our own amends carefully and sincerely.
Step Ten: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.” Regular meetings help us stay honest with ourselves. Sharing openly allows us to notice when we’re slipping into old thinking — resentment, fear, isolation, or self-centeredness — before it grows. Recovery becomes an ongoing practice of awareness and accountability.
Step Eleven: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.” For some of us, conscious contact comes through connection, reflection, meditation, quiet moments, and the collective wisdom of the MA community. Meetings create moments of reflection, prayer, silence, gratitude, and connection. Even just listening deeply can become a spiritual practice.
Step Twelve: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to marijuana addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Every person who shows up, listens, shares honestly, welcomes newcomers, or offers support is carrying the message. You never know whose recovery is being strengthened just because you spoke up today. Meetings allow us to practice compassion, honesty, humility, accountability, and connection in everyday life.
The beautiful thing about meetings is that we do not have to “finish” the Steps before they start helping us. Every meeting is an opportunity to practice honesty, connection, humility, accountability, and hope. Sometimes recovery happens in big breakthrough moments — but often, it happens quietly through simply showing up, listening, sharing, and letting ourselves be supported by people who truly understand.
Keep coming back. It works if you work it.
– Jay (Whistler, BC)
