Portland Sober Living, Detox & Treatment Directory

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 5 · How It Works

Step One as printed in Chapter 5 of the 1939 first edition. Bill W. drafted the Steps in 1938, expanding the early fellowship’s informal program into twelve definite proposals.

The only Step that mentions alcohol, and the only one the book treats as needing to be taken completely. It’s also the only one you can take in total defeat — in fact, that’s the only way it works. Powerless isn’t hopeless: admitting the car has no brakes is the first piece of information that can actually save your life. Surrender, here, is intel.

Quote from the 1939 first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (public domain). Reflection original to portlandsober.com. This site is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.