Rick W has written a short, outstanding book about the linkage between preparation and taking the actions suggested in the Twelve Steps. He explains the challenge he addresses with his book this way:
Bill W. and the early members of A.A. learned this the hard way. The Steps were shaped not by theory, but by relapse, humility, observation, and grace. What emerged was a spiritual sequence that respects how change actually happens. Each Step addresses a specific internal condition, and each one gently prepares the alcoholic for the next right action, often before the alcoholic realizes that preparation is what is happening. Step 1 dismantles illusion. Step 2 introduces hope without demand. Step 3 invites commitment without certainty. Step 4 slows us down long enough to see the truth. Step 5 gives that truth voice. Step 6 asks whether we are truly willing to change. Step 7 teaches us to ask rather than manage. Step 8 cultivates responsibility before repair. Step 9 restores integrity through courageous action. And Steps 10, 11, and 12 teach us how to live this way, not once, but daily.
This book focuses especially on the hidden labor of the Steps, the internal shifts that make outward action possible. These are the moments when something inside us changes before anything outside does. They are quiet, often uncomfortable, and easy to underestimate. Yet without them, the program becomes mechanical, moralistic, or performative (like a set of boxes to check off our list).
The prep Steps are where honesty deepens, resistance surfaces, and willingness is formed. They are where the alcoholic learns patience with the process and humility with self. They prevent us from turning the Steps into tasks to complete rather than truths to embody.
Rick W explains below how Step 2 prepares us for Step 3 in Chapter 2 of his book “The Prep Steps: Setting Up Action In A.A. which can be downloaded freely from his outstanding website. You can also access his wisdom on Step 1 by clicking here. Rick W has been trudging the Road to Happy Destiny for over 38 years – Bruce M
Step 2: The Preparation for Step 3
From Desperation to Decision
Meditation: Making Room for Hope
God, I don’t ask for certainty, only willingness. Help me believe that restoration is possible, even when I don’t understand how. Remove the barriers I’ve built against hope, especially the ones I call intelligence, pride, or fear. Let me be open enough for something greater than me to work. I am willing to believe that sanity can return. Amen.
If Step 1 ends the argument with self-will, Step 2 opens the conversation about trust (or faith).
Having admitted powerlessness and unmanageability, the alcoholic stands in unfamiliar territory. The old solution, control, has failed. But no new solution has yet been chosen. Step 2 exists in this space.
It does not rush us into surrender; it prepares us for it. Step 2 asks neither for certainty nor agreement. It asks for openness.
Why Belief Must Come Before Surrender
Step 3 is a decision, but decisions made without belief rarely last. We can say the words of surrender while still believing that self-reliance will somehow return. Step 2 prevents this by addressing the internal resistance that makes surrender feel unsafe.
Belief here is not doctrinal or intellectual. It is experiential. It is the growing sense that something other than self-will might actually work. Without this sense, Step 3 becomes an act of desperation rather than trust.
Step 2 prepares us to surrender by first making surrender reasonable.
Sanity: What We’re Actually Asking to Be Restored
Many misunderstand Step 2 because they misunderstand the word sanity. This Step is not promising emotional calm or perfect thinking. It is promising a return to sound judgment.
Sanity, in this context, means the ability to see reality clearly before taking action. It means recognizing patterns instead of repeating them. It means responding rather than reacting.
When viewed this way, Step 2 becomes practical rather than mystical. We are not asking to become different people (yet), we are asking to regain perspective.
Letting Go of Old God Concepts (or the Absence of Them)
One of the quiet obstacles to Step 2 is the baggage we bring with us. Some arrive with rigid ideas of God that no longer serve them. Others arrive with none at all. Step 2 makes room for both by refusing to define what must be believed.
What matters is not the content of belief, but the willingness to believe. Step 2 asks us to set aside prejudice, especially the belief that we already know what will or won’t work.
Letting go of old concepts is not betrayal. It is preparation.
Signs You’re Ready for Step 3
Readiness for Step 3 does not arrive with confidence. It arrives with humility. We know Step 2 has done its work when we stop demanding guarantees.
Signs of readiness include:
* Less argument, more curiosity
* Less certainty, more openness
* Less fear of dependence, more fatigue with self-direction
How Step 2 Sets Up Action of Step 3
Step 2 reframes surrender. What once felt like loss now feels like relief. Turning our will and life over no longer feels like giving up, it feels like aligning with reality.
By the time Step 2 has done its work, Step 3 is no longer dramatic. It is logical. Self-will has failed. A different way is possible. The decision becomes clear.
Step 2 doesn’t force the decision. It makes it safe.
Chapter 2 – A.A. Literature References
● Big Book, Chapter 4: We Agnostics (p. 45) “Lack of power, that was our dilemma…”
● Big Book, Chapter 5: How It Works (p. 50 – bottom) Step Two Promise
● Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: Steps Two and Three
Discussion & Reflection Questions
* Where have I tried to surrender without first becoming willing?
*. How has my understanding of “sanity” changed since coming to A.A.?
*. What old ideas, religious or otherwise, still quietly resist Step 2?
*. What signs tell me I am becoming ready for Step 3?
*. How has Step 2 made the decision of Step 3 feel safer
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