Wilson did not find any hope at his first AA meeting. ‘I saw the 12 Steps on the wall, and my first impression was, ‘I’m going to die because they’re asking me to believe in fairy tales,’ when I saw the word, ‘God’ throughout the steps.’ But after the meeting, a man talked to him and explained the detox symptoms Wilson was going through because that man had gone through the same thing himself. That connection was the reason Wilson went back to another meeting. He shares that working the steps, staying involved in AA, and being a sponsor has changed him, even if he can’t point to when or how. Now, practicing Step 12 by reaching out to other alcoholics is central to his life.

‘I have a genuine caring for people that I don’t think I ever had before…I mean I cared about people but it wasn’t at a core level. Now it’s there. And when I see a new comer come in, I care for that person without any sort of reservation, without any sort of judgement in a way I never had before. I just want to help them. It’s really a big deal. That’s probably what’s changed [in me] the most.’

Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.